‘Innocent’ Jannik Sinner defended by former No 12 amid doping suspension
Former world No 12 and Madrid Open tournament director Feliciano Lopez has questioned why “innocent” Jannik Sinner is serving a three-month doping ban.
World No 1 Sinner is currently serving a three-month suspension after twice testing positive for banned steroid clostebol in March 2024.
The three-time Grand Slam champion settled with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in February 2025, agreeing to a three-month ban, spanning from February 4th to May 4th 2025.
That came after WADA appealed the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s decision to hand Sinner no suspension after finding him to be of “no fault” in its ruling, which was announced in August 2024.
Sinner successfully argued that he had accidently been contaminated by a team member and, while WADA did not contest this, they did challenge the severity of the 23-year-old’s sanction.
The case was set to be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in April 2025 before a settlement was reached between the two parties.
Sinner’s case has proven to be hugely divisive, but he has received significant support from Lopez, who oversees the combined ATP and WTA 1000 event in Madrid.
The World No 1 will miss the event due to his suspension, with the Italian not set to return until the week after action concludes in the Spanish capital.
Speaking to Marca, the former world No 12 offered a strong defence of Sinner and admitted he did not “understand” why Sinner had ultimately been handed a suspension.
“I have said from the beginning that I believe he is innocent,” said Lopez.
“He has proven that he is not responsible for his positive test. In that sense, I do not understand why he should be out of action for three months.
“I can understand why people say that he is the one ultimately responsible for his career, but it seems to me that if a player is innocent and has not cheated in any way to improve his performance, he should not be banned for a single day.
“I respect all opinions, but that is mine – and I think that the sooner he returns, the better.”
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The Madrid Open is one of four Masters 1000 events Sinner will miss due to his suspension, starting with action in Indian Wells this fortnight.
That will be followed by the Miami Open, where the world No 1 is set to drop 1,000 ranking points after lifting the title last March.
Sinner will then miss both the Monte Carlo Masters and the Madrid Open on clay before returning to action on home soil at the Italian Open in Rome.
Main draw action in the Italian capital begins on May 7th, three days after the 23-year-old’s ban comes to an end.
He has never made it past the quarter-final of his home event in Rome and withdrew from last year’s tournament due to injury.
After the conclusion of the Italian Open, he will then be clear to compete at the French Open – the second Grand Slam tournament of 2025.
Sinner has won three of the last five Grand Slam tournaments and reached the last four in 2024, falling to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in five sets.
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