Jannik Sinner Banned From Tennis For Three Months

After two positive drug tests in 2024, Jannik Sinner reached a deal with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and will serve a three-month tennis ban. Not until May 4, 2025, will the World No. 1 play.

The Italian has agreed to a period of ineligibility that will prevent him from competing from February 9 through May 4. This will allow him to return before the French Open, which begins on May 25, the next Grand Slam.

Nick Kyrgios, a 2022 Wimbledon finalist, almost immediately criticized the latest development in the controversial case on social media, claiming that the agreement’s apparent leniency demonstrated that “fairness in tennis does not exist.”

Sinner, who last month retained his Australian Open title to claim his third Grand Slam triumph, tested positive in March 2024 for the anabolic steroid clostebol, before being cleared in August by an independent tribunal who determined he was not to blame.

Sinner explained to the tribunal in a case brought by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) that the prohibited substance got into his body during a massage from his physiotherapist, who had applied a steroid-containing spray to treat a cut on their finger.

Physio Giacomo Naldi and his trainer Umberto Ferrara were later fired by Sinner, who claimed that Ferrara had given Naldi the over-the-counter spray.

However, WADA appealed that decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in September, and a hearing was scheduled for April 16 and 17. WADA had previously stated that it was seeking a ban for Sinner of one to two years.

WADA clarified in a statement issued on Saturday that it still maintains the belief that Sinner was accountable for the carelessness of his entourage rather than intending to cheat.

In the past, Jannik Sinner expressed surprise that WADA had challenged the ruling to initially clear him.

According to the statement:

“WADA accepts the athlete’s explanation for the cause of the violation as outlined in the first instance decision. WADA accepts that Mr. Sinner did not intend to cheat, and that his exposure to clostebol did not provide any performance-enhancing benefit and took place without his knowledge as the result of negligence of members of his entourage.

“However, under the Code and by virtue of CAS precedent, an athlete bears responsibility for the entourage’s negligence. Based on the unique set of facts of this case, a three-month suspension is deemed to be an appropriate outcome.”

In a statement shared by his lawyers, Sinner said:

“This case had been hanging over me for nearly a year and the process still had a long time to run with a decision maybe only at the end of the year.

“I have always accepted that I am responsible for my team and realise WADA’s strict rules are an important protection for the sport I love. On that basis I have accepted Wada’s offer to resolve these proceedings on the basis of a three-month sanction.”

Sinner was able to continue competing and won the US Open in September 2024 and the Australian Open in January 2025, despite having to forfeit his 400 ranking points from the Indian Wells tournament, where he tested positive, as well as $325,000 in prize money.

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WADA reaffirmed that it was not requesting the “disqualification of any results” in addition to the earlier Indian Wells decision.

Indian Wells and Miami in March, as well as Monte-Carlo and Madrid in April, are the four ATP Masters 1000 events that Sinner will miss. On May 7, he will be able to make a comeback at his home event, the Masters 1000 in Rome.