Jannik Sinner has revealed the decision to accept a three-month doping ban was quickly taken, though he “did not fully agree”.
The Italian held the Australian Open title in January this year. Then in February he accepted a three-month detention after reaching an agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) after two positive medication tests in 2024.
“After all, you have to choose the slightest evil and I believe this is what I have done. Even if sometimes it seems a little unjust, everything I am living, but then if I look at things from a different perspective, it could have been worse. Even more injustice. This is the way it is,” the sinner said In heaven Italy.
The detention will have passed in time for the sinner to play in the other Grand Slam, the French open in May.
The sinner will have the right to return to his event at home, the 1000 masters in Rome on May 7.
“The decision to get the three-month suspension was quick enough. We accepted it quite quickly, though I disagree completely. There was a little behind and on my lawyer and people around me,” the Italian said. “After making this decision, it took me a while to find myself again.
“But I’m still here. There is still little time to digest all this, but I can’t wait to go back to Rome. It is a special tour for me, though it will also be very difficult. I will return to a moment in which there will already be a lot of attention for me, and in Rome is not easy.
“But let’s say I’m living every day in a quiet way.”
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Look Sinner beat Alexander Zverev in right groups to keep the Australian Open title
Sinner had tested positive in March 2024 for the anabolic steroid clostebol, before being cleared in August by an independent court that determined that he would not be blamed.
Wada, who previously said he was seeking a ban between one and two years for the sinner, appealed against this decision to the Arbitration Court for Sport (CAS) in September and a subsequent hearing was scheduled for April 16 and 17.
In the agreement reached in February, the sinner accepted a detention of only three months, but insisted that the decision was still touched.
“I was very fragile after what happened,” he said. “I would say a lie if I would say I was a person with no feelings or emotions. In life you teach, every year I learn more about myself, also about my value. It was not easy, sometimes very difficult, but people around me gave me the strength to understand what had happened.”
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Novak Gjokovic said that most of the players he spoke felt that the gentle sinner taken for a positive medication test was unfair and believed he had favorites for the biggest names in the sport
He remains unsure of how other players in the tournament will react to his return.
“I can’t answer this question because I don’t know what can happen,” he said. “I know how things went. I know I’m innocent.
“I’m quiet because in the end I know what I want to do is play tennis and be calm. This is the end of the story. So I’m sure they will all go well, even if at first it will take a while to start. These are questions that I don’t know how to answer.”
He is still counting the time of his return to the competitive tennis.
“Why? Because I stopped doing what I’ve always dreamed of doing. I’m in the best position to play this sport,” he said.
“At first I counted the days, but now every day that passes as time approaches, I feel better physically and mentally.
“Even if there is still time, it is a good opportunity for me to improve in those areas in which I have had difficulties, on a surface in which I fight. So let’s try to do something different. We hope it will otherwise have more time to try again.”
