The world’s top-ranked men’s tennis player Jannik Sinner has settled a case with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for a three-month suspension after testing positive for the drug Clostebol last year.
The punishment is remarkably lenient given that he was facing a potential two-year ban, and the timing of this settlement means that he will not have to miss any majors—he will be back in time for the French Open in May.
“This case had been hanging over me now for nearly a year and the process still had a long time to run with a decision maybe only at the end of the year,” Sinner said in a statement released by his agents. “I have always accepted that I am responsible for my team and realize WADA’s strict rules are an important protection for the sport I love. On that basis I have accepted WADA’s offer to resolve these proceedings on the basis of a 3-month sanction.”
Current tennis player Nick Kyrgios was skeptical of the conclusion.
“To the future generation tennis players – after today you can dope, just ‘without knowing’ … Test positive, play through all the investigation, then settle on a convenient 3 month ban, not get stripped of any money or titles and carry on,” Kyrgios wrote on his Instagram story.
“Sad day for me – someone who has played this sport since I was 7 years old. Battled injury after injury and have given a shit load to this sport. I pray that kids that play this sport do it the right way.”
Former tennis star Tim Henman told the BBC that he didn’t believe Sinner was “in any way trying to cheat at any stage,” but was surprised by the light punishment. “When I read this statement this morning, it just seems a little too convenient,” Henman said. “There’s words like ‘agreement.’ It almost seems like there’s been a negotiation.”
Henman added that the “timing couldn’t have been any better for Sinner” to wedge the suspension in between the Australian Open—which he won—and the French. “I still think it leaves a pretty sour taste for the sport,” Henman said.
Sinner, 23, has a big enough buffer in the ATP rankings that he should still be the top player in the world when he returns from suspension. He has 11,830 official points and second-ranked Alexander Zverev is more than 3,000 behind with 8,135.
WADA said in a statement that it “accepts that Mr. Sinner did not intend to cheat, and that his exposure to clostebol did not provide any performance-enhancing benefit and took place without his knowledge as the result of negligence of members of his entourage.”
However, the body concluded that “an athlete bears responsibility for the entourage’s negligence.”
Sinner’s suspension is back-dated to Feb. 9. He will be eligible to return on May 4 as he is given credit for four days served when he was under provisional suspension.
