ROME — The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has appealed the steroid case involving top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner, the Montreal-based organization announced on Saturday.
WADA stated that it is seeking a suspension of one to two years for the U.S. Open champion but indicated that it does not intend to retroactively apply a potential ban. This would mean that Sinner could retain his second Grand Slam title if found guilty.
The announcement was made while Sinner was competing against Roman Safiullin at the China Open in Beijing.
“To be honest, I’m very disappointed and also surprised by this appeal, because we had three hearings. All three hearings came out very positively for me,” the 23-year-old Sinner said after defeating Safiullin.
“You know, I was not expecting it. I knew it a couple of days ago, that they were going to appeal, that today it’s going to go official, so… it’s a surprise,” he added. “We always talk about the same thing. Maybe they just want to make sure that everything is in the right position. Yeah, I’m just surprised that they appealed.”
Sinner tested positive twice for an anabolic steroid in March but was not banned in a decision by an independent tribunal announced by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) on Aug. 20. The ITIA determined that he was not at fault.
Sinner’s accepted explanation was that the banned performance-enhancing substance entered his system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist, who had used a spray containing the steroid to treat their own cut finger.
WADA stated that it filed an appeal on Thursday to the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
“WADA believes that the finding of ‘no fault or negligence’ was not correct under the applicable rules,” WADA said in a statement. “WADA is seeking a period of ineligibility of between one and two years. WADA is not seeking a disqualification of any results, save that which has already been imposed by the tribunal of first instance.”
WADA suggested that the rules were not followed correctly despite prosecutor Nicolas Zbinden, representing the tennis integrity body — who accepted Sinner’s account of events — being a lawyer who regularly works on high-profile cases for the global watchdog, including the successful appeal against Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva.
A verdict on the appeal at CAS could come quickly — potentially within just a few months — if the parties agree to cooperate. At least that’s how it worked in another high-profile doping case in tennis involving Maria Sharapova.
However, the case is unlikely to be resolved before Sinner begins the defense of his Australian Open title in January.
Sharapova tested positive at the Australian Open in January 2016 for the newly-banned heart medication meldonium. She was banned for two years in June of that year by the International Tennis Federation.
The Russian star appealed to CAS, had an appeal hearing in New York before three judges that September, and four weeks later received the verdict that reduced her ban to 15 months.
The entire process for Sharapova with CAS took just four months — significantly shorter than most doping cases, which typically last for about one year. The timeline can be delayed due to the complexities of selecting a judging panel, finding a hearing date, and parties exchanging documents and evidence from expert witnesses.
During the Indian Wells hard-court event in March, Sinner tested positive for low levels of a metabolite of Clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid that can be used for ophthalmological and dermatological purposes. It’s the same drug for which San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. was suspended by MLB in 2022.
Sinner tested positive again eight days later in an out-of-competition sample.
He was provisionally suspended twice by the tennis integrity body due to these test results, but he successfully appealed twice to an independent tribunal judge and was allowed to continue competing on tour.
Sinner stated that his test results were due to his fitness trainer purchasing an over-the-counter spray called Trofodermin in Italy that contained Clostebol and giving it to Sinner’s physiotherapist to treat a cut on the physiotherapist’s finger. The physiotherapist then treated Sinner without wearing gloves.
The ITIA said it accepted Sinner’s explanation, after 10 interviews with the player and his entourage, and the independent panel agreed at a hearing on Aug. 15.
The tennis integrity body decision did order Sinner to forfeit the $325,000 in prize money and 400 ranking points he earned at the tournament in Indian Wells.
Sinner later announced that he had dismissed his two trainers.