‘Jannik Sinner is completely innocent in doping case – no chance he was trying to do anything illegal’
Former world No 1 Mats Wilander has defended Jannik Sinner by expressing his belief that the Italian is “completely innocent” in his doping case.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) revealed in August that Sinner would not be banned for failing two doping tests in March after an independent tribunal ruled he carried “no fault or negligence.”
The Italian tested positive for clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid, on March 10 and 18 — during and after the Indian Wells Masters.
The tribunal accepted Sinner’s explanation that the substance had entered his body when receiving a massage from his former physio, Giacomo Naldi, who had used a spray containing the steroid to treat a cut on his finger.
The 23-year-old was stripped of the 400 ranking points and $320,000 he earned for reaching the semi-finals in Indian Wells.
In September, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over the verdict, seeking to impose a ban of up to two years on Sinner.
A statement from WADA read: “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. WADA 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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Sinner has come under constant fire from 2022 Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios since the news of his positive tests came to light.
Kyrgios has suggested he does not believe Sinner’s explanation for the presence of clostebol and has argued the world No 1 should have been banned.
Speaking on the Nothing Major Podcast, Kyrgios expressed his hope to face Sinner at next month’s Australian Open.
“If I played him in the Australian Open, I’d get every person in the crowd to get on him,” the Australian asserted. “I would turn it into an absolute riot. All respect would go out the window and I would just do anything to win.”
Speaking to Eurosport, Wilander gave his backing to Sinner over his failed drug tests and also discussed a potential meeting between the Italian and Kyrgios.
“I think Jannik Sinner is completely innocent. There’s no chance that he was trying to do anything illegal and it wasn’t his fault at all,” the seven-time Grand Slam winner said.
“It would be interesting to see if Jannik Sinner could hold it together and keep his cool if he was playing against someone like Nick Kyrgios at, say, the old Vodafone, John Caine Arena, where they let all the ticket holders in at the Australian Open, where the average age in the crowd is from 60 years old down to 16 years old or maybe 20 and some of them are having a few beers, too many.
“And that atmosphere would be interesting to see if Jannik Sinner could keep his cool if Nick Kyrgios really got ahead of Sinner.”
The Swede also weighed in on Kyrgios revealing that he currently finds tennis boring.
“Well, Nick Kyrgios is very special when it comes to entertaining the crowd,” Wilander assessed.
“He’s very special when it comes to being a competitor, because sometimes I think that when strange things happen, when Nick Kyrgios plays, it’s because he’s more competitive than we think.
“Do you remember the match against Stefanos Tsitsipas at Wimbledon [in 2022]? I mean, he threw everything but the kitchen sink at Stefanos Tsitsipas and the crowd, and it turned into chaos. What happened in the end? Nick Kyrgios won the match.
“Nick Kyrgios at the Australian Open is much, much better than at other tournaments. Yes, on the grass at Wimbledon – that’s where I really think players don’t want to play him.
“But I don’t think Nick Kyrgios is right when he says that men’s tennis is boring. It’s boring depending on how you look at it. If you’re able to look at the level they’re playing at, it’s anything but boring.
“These guys are so good these days. They’re so fit, they’re strong, they’re fast, they hit the ball hard, they’re mentally very strong. And I think there’s an incredible awe in watching them play, especially live. Is it boring? Well, not many players are smashing so many rackets.”
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