Jannik Sinner, the world number 1 in men's tennis, has been exonerated by an independent court after testing positive twice for a banned steroid in March.
Sinner gave the positive doping samples during the hard court tournament in Indian Wells. Small amounts of a metabolite of Clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid, were detected in the Italian. This was announced by the International Tennis Integrity Authority (ITIA) on Tuesday.
These positive tests were not made public during the investigation. An independent tribunal has now concluded that there was no wrongdoing on the part of Sinner, the ITIA added. The doping finding was due to the fact that a coach had used a spray containing Clostebol to treat his own wound. This member of Sinner's staff had given him massages during this time, which explains the infection with the banned substance.
Sinner does not have to fear a ban, but the anti-doping rules require the South Tyrolean to forfeit the world ranking points he won and the prize money from the tournament in Indian Wells. Sinner explained in a statement that he will continue to do everything in his power to comply with the anti-doping regulations.
Despite the points deduction, the winner of the Australian Open 2024 continues to lead the world rankings. He has just won his third Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati and goes into the US Open next week as one of the favorites.
