Tennis, US Open 2024: No special treatment because of ranking, says Sinner after positive dope test
The Italian tennis player was cleared of all wrongdoing by the ITIA ahead of the start of the 2024 US Open on August 26.
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World No 1 Jannik Sinner said Friday he was relieved to escape a doping ban after twice testing positive for a banned substance, even though “in my mind I know that I haven't done anything wrong.”
The 23-year-old Italian spoke publicly for the first time since the International Tennis Integrity Agency cleared him this week of wrongdoing, accepting his explanation that the drug entered his system when his physiotherapist used a spray containing it to treat a cut, then provided massage and sports therapy to the player.
Sinner tested positive for low levels of the banned anabolic agent clostebol in March – once during the Indian Wells Masters and again in an out-of-competition test eight days later.
Sinner was stripped of his results, prize money and 400 ranking points he accumulated at Indian Wells, but the ITIA confirmed this week that an independent tribunal found that he “bears no fault or negligence” for the violations.
Sinner said the months-long process was a nerve-wracking experience, and he rejected suggestions he had received any special treatment because of his lofty ranking.
“No, it’s every player who gets tested positive has to go through the same process,” Sinner said at a news conference at the US Open which starts Monday.
“There is no shortcut, there...
