Rafael Nadal gives his honest verdict on Jannik Sinner’s doping ban
Rafael Nadal has revealed he is ‘convinced’ that Jannik Sinner would never try to cheat or gain an advantage as he weighed in on the Italian’s doping case.
Sinner is currently sidelined from tennis as he is serving a three-month doping ban that started on February 9 and runs until May 4.
The three-time Grand Slam champion has not played since defending his Australian Open title at the end of January.
The world No 1 tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid clostebol twice in March 2024 — during and after the Indian Wells Masters.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) revealed in August that Sinner would not serve a ban after an independent tribunal found he carried “no fault or negligence.”
Sinner explained 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 own finger.
However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over the verdict in September as they initially sought to impose a ban of between one and two years on the world No 1.
The appeal was set to be heard at CAS in April, but WADA announced in February it had reached an agreement with Sinner’s legal team for him to serve a three-month suspension.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Nadal explained he believes that Sinner’s positive tests were an “accident” and went on to address criticism aimed at anti-doping protocols.
“In the end, if I’m not mistaken, he came out of the ruling as innocent,” the 22-time major champion said.
“In this case, it’s not been positive for our sport, tennis. But these things happen sometimes, accidents happen, and that’s how I see this because I believe in Jannik.
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“I’m convinced from what I know of Jannik that he never tried to cheat or get an advantage over the rest. I am sure that Jannik is an innocent and moral person.
“From the other side of things, I don’t want to put in doubt the ruling. There are protocols that we’ve all followed for our careers. In this case, the authorities have all of the information – all of it, not what we have, which can be limited and many times subjective. I believe in the ruling. Jannik has accepted these three months of sanction and so: case closed.
“After, if we don’t like how the protocols function, then evidently the people involved need to work to improve them. But for me, I don’t like to speak badly about our sport. At the end, those protocols are the protocols that we all accepted and signed onto.”
Sinner has been forced to miss tournaments in Doha, Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo, as well as the ongoing Madrid Open.
The 23-year-old is set to make his comeback on home soil at the Masters 1000 tournament in Rome, which will begin on May 7.
The world No 1 has also entered the ATP 500 event in Hamburg prior to the French Open.
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