Patrick Mouratoglou issues damning verdict after Jannik Sinner’s failed drug tests
Patrick Mouratoglou has hit out at tennis chiefs for displaying double standards by allowing Jannik Sinner to continue to play after he failed two drug tests for a performance-enhancing steroid.
Just weeks after winning his maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, the Sinner twice tested positive for the banned substance clostebol, an anabolic agent that can aid muscle growth.
That would normally have resulted in a suspension until his appeal was concluded, as was the case with Mouratoglou’s former player Simona Halep.
Yet the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted Sinner’s explanation that the substance had accidentally entered his system via a product one of his team had used to treat a small wound and allowed the world No 1 to carry on playing.
The primary concern most have raised in tennis since news of Sinner’s failed drug tests broke is the apparent different treatment he has been given compared to other players like Halep and Mourtoglou expressed his dismay at the shift in approach in a lengthy LinkedIn post.
“When I heard about the situation with Jannik Sinner on Tuesday, I was extremely shocked. After what Simona Halep had to suffer, how could it go so differently?” he asked.
“I am not going to say that he’s guilty of anything. Obviously not.
“The fact that needs highlighting is that there is a double standard – that two players in the same situation are treated oppositely – and this is wrong. The rules should apply to everyone.
“For one player, who tested positive at more than a minimal rate of the substance, the ITIA decided to put it all over the press and make it public. For another player, they kept it secret. Why? It makes absolutely no sense.
“I think the way ITIA has handled Jannik’s case is the right one because, until he’s proven guilty or innocent, I don’t think it should be made public. Because after all, then the damage is done and it’s so hard to recover from it.
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“If Jannik did nothing, it shouldn’t be made public.
“This contributes to a big lack of transparency and equal treatment. Whether it’s a man or a woman, the cases should be treated the same. I think this is something that everybody agrees about, and even more so in such an important matter.”
Mouratoglou went on to question the process that found Sinner innocent of taking performance-enhancing drugs, as he appeared to question the integrity of the process.
“The other shocking thing is that they wrote that Jannik appealed to a tribunal and his suspension was finally lifted due to that ‘tribunal’ finding in his favour,” he added.
“Well, it’s NOT a tribunal. Technically, it’s just a private company hired by the ITIA. The real tribunal is the CAS, the one that Simona Halep went to, the one that found that she was not guilty after a real investigation and a real exchange of views.
“What they have called the tribunal here is just basically them and themselves, making the test, taking decisions on the player (suspension or not) and then concluding with the pieces they have within themselves. In the end, they basically suspended him and lifted the suspension within a few days of each other.
“Simona was provisionally suspended, denied an appeal for months, then suspended again, and finally she could go to the CAS to be claimed innocent. All out in public since the beginning.
“Overall, the case emphasises the big lack of transparency in tennis and I think it hurts our sport in a significant way, but it also hurts the professional tennis players who were victims of this unfair treatment.”
Sinner’s failed drug tests will continue to be the big talking point in tennis ahead of the US Open and he is certain to be questioned about the story in his media appearances in New York.
