Jannik Sinner WADA doping appeal: Latest update good news and bad news ahead of Australian Open title defence

Shahida Jacobs
Jannik Sinner in a press conference at the ATP Finals
Jannik Sinner in a press conference

Jannik Sinner looks set to be free to defend his Australian Open title in 2025 after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) published its latest list of hearings, but it also means the failed drug tests will continue to hang over his head for another couple of months.

World No 1 Sinner tested positive for the banned substance clostebol in March, but the findings were only made public in August when the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) cleared him of any wrongdoing stating that he bore “no fault or negligence”.

The Italian was stripped of the ranking points he won at the Indian Wells, but he was allowed to continue playing.

However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) then dropped a bombshell a few months later when it appealed against the ITIA’s verdict, stating: “It is WADA’s view that the finding of ‘no fault or negligence’ was not correct under the applicable rules.

“WADA is seeking a period of ineligibility of between one and two years.”

There had been fears that the case was going to be heard before the end of 2024 and a suspension could impact his Australian Open title defence at the start of the new tennis season.

However, CAS has published its list of hearings until February 11, 2025 and WADA’s appeal case against Sinner’s punishment is not among them.

It means he will be able to compete at Melbourne Park and also the Rotterdam Open – where he is also the defending champion – with his hearing likely to be heard in late February or the beginning of March.

But while he is free to play, the bad news for the 23-year-old is the fact that the nightmare will drag on and he cannot put the episode behind him.

Following WADA’s appeal, Sinner expressed his disappointment, stating: “Obviously I’m very disappointed and also surprised of this appeal, to be honest, because we had three hearings.

“All three hearings came out very positively for me. 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…

“But yeah, it’s a surprise. 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.”

There is also no risk that Sinner will be stripped of any results he has achieved since the original case was heard as WADA said it is “not seeking a disqualification of any results, save that which has already been imposed by the tribunal of first instance”.

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Italy’s Davis Cup captain Filippo Volandri has insisted there is no doubt that the two-time Grand Slam winner did nothing wrong.

“I don’t even want to think about a possible disqualification of Sinner, given his honesty and the irrefutable evidence he has provided,” he told QS Sport.

“But if there is a person with broad shoulders it is Jannik. A disqualification would be the greatest injustice in history.”