'As Luck Would Have It, He Will Resume In Rome': Sinner's Ban Timing Raises Eyebrows
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The resolution of Jannik Sinner's doping case drew plenty of reactions from current and former players, with very few happy with how it unfolded.
Sinner was suspended from competing for three months. For the 23-year-old Italian player, this is certainly the most challenging part of his tennis career. However, even if he was banned, many question the integrity of the process.
To be honest, there are plenty of reasons to be confused. Sinner was first cleared of any wrongdoing by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), only for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to later appeal the case.
That should have been decided at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in April. However, two months before the court date, WADA and Sinner have agreed on a three-month suspension.
This came as a surprise, as it's not a common practice for tennis players to "agree" on the duration of their suspension with the anti-doping agencies, but not only the duration but also the exact timing of this agreement raised many eyebrows.
Sinner's suspension will last from February 9th until May 4th, which means that he will be able to compete at the 2025 Italian Open in Rome, which starts on May 7th. That timing surprised not only former player Tim Henman but also another former player, Marion Bartoli.
Like Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev, Bartoli was also not thrilled by the resolution of this case. The former WTA World No. 7 player spoke about the topic on RMC Sport, as per Tennis365, suggesting that the timing of the ban wasn't a coincidence.
"He had a much heavier sword of Damocles hanging over his head, because at the beginning, there was even talk of a two-year suspension. I have to read the reports and say that the experts all described this unintentional doping."
"Now, where I have trouble understanding this decision is that there is case law at the CAS level, which is located in Switzerland, and that the case law is still higher than that, that is to say that even for negligence, there was more than three months."
"The president of the ATP is Italian and as luck would have it, he will resume in Rome… When you put everything together, you still say to yourself, 'aren’t they taking the pi** a bit?'"
"But, based on the evidence and what has been said, I am no one to question that. So, I have a lot of trouble forming an opinion."
It's clear that many are not happy with how Sinner's case was handled. Since its beginning, many asked for a more transparent process since it often wasn't clear why certain decisions were made a certain way, and this seems like the last nail in the coffin.
While some question the timing of the ban, Alexander Zverev, for example, was confused about whether Sinner was guilty or not. According to the German player, if Sinner was guilty, he should be banned for much longer. If not, then he shouldn't have been banned at all.
