Grigor Dimitrov has spoken about Jannik Sinner's doping case, and the Bulgarian is very skeptical of how the saga was handled.
It has been close to a month since tennis fans worldwide were stunned by the news of Sinner testing positive for the banned substance clostebol at March's Indian Wells Open on two occasions.
Sinner was cleared of wrongdoing and avoided a ban. However, his prize money and ranking points from the tournament were stripped, meaning his lead at No. 1 in the rankings is lower than it would have been.
There was only one billionth of a gram of clostebol in his system. That is not enough to gain any advantage since the amount of the substance inside Sinner's body was so negligible.
The ITIA accepted Sinner's explanation that the banned substance accidentally entered his system after massages from his physiotherapist, who did not realize the spray he was using for a cut finger had traces of clostebol in it.
It seems clear Sinner had no intention of cheating or unlawfully trying to gain an advantage over his opponents. However, how the case was handled has enraged many players, analysts, and fans.
Several other accused players were provisionally suspended and had their cases made public while investigations into their actions took place. Sinner was allowed to keep playing, and his case was kept private during the ITIA's investigation.
Denis Shapovalov was one of the players who accused the ITIA of acting based on the player's identity. Nick Kyrgios and Lucas Pouille were among the other unhappy players. Kyrgios thinks Sinner should be banned for two years.
Others defended the world No. 1. Mark Petchey argued that no doping case is ever the same, while Sinner's coach, Darren Cahill, said the 23-year-old's ability to quickly find where the contamination had taken place was why he did not receive a provisional suspension.
Dimitrov can be added to the list of players who are skeptical of the process. The former Wimbledon semifinalist fears there may be double standards that are unfair to other players who have been accused of doping.
"As I said before, in New York, what struck me the most strange is how the protocols of this situation were handled. How were they distributed?"
"There are players who experienced completely different processes, with different procedures, and it made me wonder if there were double standards. Double standards, this is essentially what I say. We see this in other sports as well. It's not a secret."
The Bulgarian thinks the way the story came out was strange. Dimitrov is a member of the Players' Committee and finds it odd that the news was broken suddenly without other players having any previous knowledge of the case.
"But the way this case unfolded was very strange to me, even as someone who has been on the ATP tour for many years. We know things from the inside, especially how tournaments are run."
"As a member of the players' committee, it's odd when something like this-whether it's news or a dispute-comes out, and it feels strange for everyone."