Jannik Sinner's 'very strange' doping case draws interesting comment from Bjorn Borg

Thursday, 18 September 2025 at 20:15

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byErik Virostko

Jannik Sinner's doping case seemed to be a thing of the past, but that was before legendary Bjorn Borg was asked about it.

Sinner tested positive for a banned substance, clostebol, in March 2024. That was revealed in August of that year. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) initially didn't find any Sinner's fault in the case, but that was later challenged by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). In February of this year, Sinner and WADA reached an agreement that saw him serve a three-month suspension.

Now, six months later, the Italian player competes on the ATP Tour with his doping case being long forgotten by most. But every now and then, a question pops up about Sinner's doping case.

Such was the case when Bjorn Borg recently appeared on the BBC Breakfast. He was asked about doping cases, admitting that during his time, there were some players he knew were using substances they weren't supposed to be using.

"When we played, my generation, I know for a fact, I know some players, they were using things they were not supposed to use. I don’t want to get into names, it’s not important. But today, I think it’s good, they test themselves, and sometimes I understand players have to test themselves so many times. I think it’s good, it’s important to keep tennis a clean sport."

Borg then also spoke about Sinner's case in particular. According to the Swedish legend, it was quite surprising that Sinner tested positive on two separate occasions. Borg thinks that was "very strange."

"I think I was very surprised when I read that. I think it happened twice. I mean if it happened one time…but it happened twice, I think. So, I think that’s very strange. What happened, I don’t really know. I hope really nothing serious happened."

Jannik Sinner finally has a challenger for the world No. 1 spot

In the past 12 months, it seemed that there was no one who could challenge Sinner for the world No. 1 spot. Statistically, Carlos Alcaraz is a more accomplished player, but he used to struggle with consistency, which is why he couldn't match the Italian in terms of the ATP ranking points despite having more Grand Slam titles and titles overall.

But that has changed in recent months. Alcaraz became a consistency machine, winning more matches than ever. He beat Sinner in two Grand Slam finals and overtook him as the world No. 1 player.

However, it's important to mention that the current rankings are impacted by the fact that Sinner served a three-month suspension. The first edition of the rankings with both players on equal terms will come out after next year's Madrid Open.