Author: admin

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!

World No 1 Jannik Sinner confesses that he “accepts responsibility” for his team, after failing two doping tests in March 2024 – leading to a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that bans him from competing for a three-month period

Shockwaves were sent through the tennis world as it was announced that WADA had reached an agreement with Sinner to drop their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), in return for the Italian being banned from professional tennis until May.

The settlement comes prior to the hearing of WADA’s appeal of the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s (ITIA) ruling to the CAS in April, with a one or two-year ban highly likely – should the appeal have been successful.

As a result, the appeal has now been dropped, but the 2025 Australian Open champion cannot compete professionally until May 5^th, just before the Italian Open in Rome.

In an official statement released shortly after the announcement, the three-time Grand Slam champion stated: “This case had been hanging over me now 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 3-month sanction.”

Sinner’s lawyer said: “I am delighted that Jannik can finally put this harrowing experience behind him.

“WADA has confirmed the facts determined by the Independent Tribunal. It is clear that Jannik had no intent, no knowledge, and gained no competitive advantage. Regrettably, errors made by members of his team led to this situation.”

It was in March, during the Indian Wells Open, when the highest-ranked male singles player in the world failed two separate doping tests. The tests were positive for small levels of clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid.

The shocking results remained unknown to the public until August, when it was announced that Sinner’s appeal of his suspension was successful with an independent tribunal – convened by the ITIA – which determined that he bore ‘no fault or negligence.’

The Italian’s story followed that his physiotherapist, Giocomo Naldi, purchased an over-the-counter spray to treat a minor cut on Naldi’s finger, and later used it for that purpose during Indian Wells. Subsequently, according to the team, Sinner then received multiple massages from his physio, who failed to wear gloves, and the steroid inadvertently entered his body through ‘skin lesions.’

However, WADA was quick to appeal the tribunal’s decision, arguing that “the finding of ‘no fault or negligence’ was not correct under the applicable rules.”

In late August, Sinner parted ways with Naldi and fitness coach Umberto Ferrara.

Latest Jannik Sinner News

Nick Kyrgios opens fire on Jannik Sinner after doping ‘deal’ as Tim Henman voices concern

Jannik Sinner doping ban: Which tournaments will world No 1 miss due to suspension?

A hearing of the appeal at the CAS was scheduled for April 16^th – 17^th, but this has now been adjourned, due to the settlement.

Meanwhile, the ATP is happy that the matter has been resolved but they also gave a warning to all players.

“This case is an important reminder of players’ responsibility to carefully manage the products and treatments they or their entourages use. We welcome the conclusion of this matter,” it said.

As a result of the ban, the world No 1 will drop 2,100 ranking points and is forced to miss the Qatar Open, as well as the first four Masters 1000 events of 2025. Sinner was the defending champion in Miami, and was also attempting to defend semi-finalist points at the Monte Carlo Masters.

Although he also lost in the semi-final of the Indian Wells Open last year, those ranking points and prize money were stripped after the initial ITIA ruling in August.

The post Jannik Sinner reacts after shock doping ban as he makes ‘responsibility’ confession appeared first on Tennis365.

Amid a tennis world still reeling from Jannik Sinner’s three-month ban, Carlos Alcaraz will face a former Grand Slam champion in the first round of the Qatar Open, with Novak Djokovic facing a Wimbledon finalist in his opener.

The ATP Tour 500 event in Doha was set to be a stacked event, with six of the world’s top 10 being present in the draw. As such, Sinner would sit at the top of the draw as the first seed, as he looked to add yet another title to his collection.

However, before the draw was made, it was announced that the Italian and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had arrived at a settlement over their ongoing ‘doping’ dispute. This agreement stated that Sinner would accept that his team displayed negligence over his two failed doping tests in March, in exchange for a three-month ban from professional tennis.

The negotiated ban is substantially shorter than any punishment he would have received had WADA’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport been successful – with a one or two-year ban almost certain.

As such, despite already having his first practice in Doha, Sinner was ineligible to participate in the tournament.

Carlos Alcaraz

The pre-draw withdrawal meant that Alcaraz was bumped up to the first seed position, however, despite this privilege, his path looks to be a difficult one.

In the opening match, he will face 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic – who is currently struggling for wins but is almost always dangerous on quicker courts. Not many know this better than the Spaniard, who went to a fifth-set with the Croat en route to his first Grand Slam title in 2022.

Should Alcaraz progress, he is projected to face Zhizhen Zhang who recently defeated Hubert Hurkacz in Marseille, with Grigor Dimitrov looming in the final eight. The Bulgarian may be trailing the head-to-head with the four-time Grand Slam champion, but Dimitrov has come out on top of their last two matches and won their last four sets played.

To make matters worse, Alcaraz’s projected semi-final is with Novak Djokovic – who defeated him at the 2025 Australian Open.

Novak Djokovic

The Serbian may be projected to face Alcaraz in the Qatar Open semi-finals, but he will not be looking past his first-round opponent.

In a rematch of the 2021 Wimbledon final, Djokovic will face Matteo Berrettini in his opening match. The Italian has been unable to recapture the form he had that year, following multiple injuries, but has had impressive wins over the likes of Cameron Norrie and Frances Tiafoe, as well as a clay title in Kitzbuhel.

The potential ‘banana skins’ continue in the next round, where the 24-time Grand Slam champion would face either the big-serving Jan-Lennard Struff or the ever-tricky Tallon Griekspoor. The Dutchman would be favoured to face Djokovic, having won both matches against the German, and having had more high-quality wins recently.

In the quarter-finals, Djokovic would be likely to face Jack Draper or Alexei Popyrin. The Brit has only met the Serbian superstar once, where he took the first set of their match at SW19 and looked in supreme form in Melbourne at the start of 2025.

However, Popyrin cannot – and should not – be counted out, despite not having won a match this season. If he could capture a similar form to what he possessed against Djokovic in their third-round match at the 2024 US Open – where he completed the upset – then a semi-final appearance in the last four is far from guaranteed.

Latest ATP News

Nick Kyrgios opens fire on Jannik Sinner after doping ‘deal’ as Tim Henman voices concern

Novak Djokovic treatment ‘out of order’ as leading tennis voice describes abuse as ‘awful’

Alex de Minaur

As a result of Sinner’s withdrawal, De Minaur was bumped up to the second seed position. The world No 6 looked in top form in Rotterdam, and will look to continue that level in the outdoor conditions of Doha.

The Australian has a relatively soft draw early on, facing Roman Safiullin in his opener, before facing off against either a qualifier or wildcard Abdullah Shelbayh.

In the quarter-finals, Andrey Rublev and Alexander Bublik lie in waiting. The Russian has had plenty of success at the Qatar Open, reaching the final in 2018 and lifting the trophy in 2020. Rublev and de Minaur have shared a very competitive rivalry, with the latter leading the head-to-head with four wins compared to the three of Rublev.

The Australian would likely rather play Bublik in the last eight, having never lost to the Kazach, however, Bublik did win his last match against Rublev, so their respective match would be a toss-up.

Daniil Medvedev is projected to fill the other semi-final spot opposite de Minaur, with Stefanos Tsitsipas another option.

Daniil Medvedev

Medvedev looked out-of-sorts for much of 2024 and didn’t look much better during his loss against Learner Tien at the 2025 Australian Open.

The Russian will face off against his fellow countryman and childhood friend Karen Khachanov in the first round, with Medvedev leading the head-to-head 5-2. However, given his recent level, the former Grand Slam champion will not take Khachanov lightly.

In the round of 16, Medvedev is projected to face Zizou Bergs or, more likely, Roberto Bautista Agut. The Spaniard has great memories in Doha, having beaten Djokovic from a set-and-a-break down in 2019, lifting the trophy in 2022. On the other hand, Bautista Agut is on a five-match losing streak and hasn’t clinched a win since October 2024.

Should he reach the quarter-finals, Medvedev likely faces the tricky challenge of sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or the in-form Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian has already won two titles this season, and won his last meeting 6-3, 7-6(5) against the Russian at Paris-Bercy in 2024. Medvedev has a rocky and intense rivalry against Tsitsipas, with the Greek similarly out of form, and having lost his last three matches in their head-to-head, with two of them being on a hard court.

The Qatar Open will take place from February 17th until February 22^nd.

The post 2025 ATP Qatar draw: Carlos Alcaraz bumped up, Jannik Sinner dumped out, Novak Djokovic gets tough opener appeared first on Tennis365.

It didn’t take long for Nick Kyrgios to give his verdict on Jannik Sinner’s three-month ban from tennis after his failed drug tests – and it will come as no surprise that it is damning.

Australian player Kyrgois has been the most outspoken critic of Sinner since he tested positive for the anabolic steroid clostebol last March.

World No 1 Sinner tested positive for the anabolic steroid clostebol last March, but the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted that it was down to accidental contamination.

However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has challenged the verdict and has asked for the Italian – who won last year’s US Open title shortly after the test was made public – to be banned from the sport for between one and two years.

Now it has been confirmed that ‘an agreement’ has been reached between WADA and Sinner’s team that will see him banned for just three months and crucially, he will be back in time to play in the French Open in May.

WADA accepts that 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”.

Their statement revealed how they had reached their agreement with the Italian as it read: “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.”

Kyrgois was quick to question that decision, as he voiced an opinion many will share of what appears to be a ‘deal’ to avoid a longer ban.

“So WADA come out and say it would be a 1-2 year ban,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Obviously Sinner’s team have done everything in their power to just go ahead and take a 3-month ban, no titles lost, no prize money lost. Guilty or not? Sad day for tennis. Fairness in tennis does not exist.”

Former British No 1 Tim Henman rarely dips his toe in contentious tennis issues, but he agreed that the WADA/Sinner agreement left plenty of questions.

“First and foremost I don’t think in any way he has been trying to cheat at any stage, I don’t believe that,” four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Henman told Sky Sports News.

“However, when I read this statement this morning it just seems a little bit too convenient.

More Tennis News

Exclusive: ITIA chief insists Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek did not get different treatment after failed drug tests

What happened after Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek’s failed drug tests? Full explainer

“Obviously having just won the Australian Open, to miss three months of the Tour and therefore to be eligible to play at Roland Garros, the timing couldn’t have been any better for Sinner, but I still think it leaves a pretty sour taste for the sport.

“When you’re dealing with drugs in sport it very much has to be black and white, it’s binary, it’s positive or negative, you’re banned or you’re not banned.

“When you start reading words like settlement or agreement, it feels like there’s been a negotiation and I don’t think that will sit well with the player cohort and the fans of the sport.”

Almost a year has passed since the failed doping test and Henman suggests the wait to reach this verdict has been too elongated.

“He tested positive in Indian Wells in March, a long time ago, and to have had this cloud over his head also emphasises how we need to get to these conclusions a lot quicker,” said Henman.

“From Sinner’s point of view, he will be very keen to serve his ban, draw a line in the sand and get ready for Roland Garros, which is such a big priority for him.”

This deal feels like a very convenient timeframe for Sinner and he will have plenty of questions to answer about this story for the rest of his career.

READ NEXT: Jannik Sinner ‘reaches agreement’ with WADA as suspension is confirmed

The post Nick Kyrgios opens fire on Jannik Sinner after doping ‘deal’ as Tim Henman voices concern appeared first on Tennis365.

Jannik Sinner’s decision to accept an immediate ban after his representatives reached an agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) means he will miss several major tournaments on the ATP Tour.

The three-time Grand Slam winner will be banned for three months and his suspension from all tennis runs from 9 February until 4 May.

The Italian’s nightmare started last March when he twice tested positive for the anabolic steroid clostebol and was provisionally suspended.

However, his lawyers successfully argued his case and he was allowed to continue playing before the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) cleared him in August as they found he bore “no fault or negligence” for the failed tests.

Sinner, who was stripped of his prize money and points for the Indian Wells Open, said the substance entered his system when a member of his team messaged him using a cream that contained clostebol.

But WADA appealed the decision as they believe he should have been punished and requested a minimum ban between 12 months and 24 months.

The case was due to be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in April, but news broke on Saturday that Sinner had accepted a three-month ban with immediate effect.

ATP News

Jannik Sinner ‘reaches agreement’ with WADA as suspension is confirmed

Novak Djokovic treatment ‘out of order’ as leading tennis voice describes abuse as ‘awful’

“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,” the WADA statement said.

“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.”

Affected Tournaments

Sinner was due to return to action at the Qatar Open this week, but he has already been replaced in the ATP 500 main draw by a lucky loser.

After that, he was due to travel to the United States for the Sunshine Double, but will now miss both of those tournaments and will lose a lot of points for the second of those events.

The Italian reached the semi-final of the Indian Wells Open last year, but he was stripped of his points later in the campaign due to the two positive tests.

He then won the Miami Open and will now be unable to defend the 1,000 points.

The clay-court season kicks off with the Monte Carlo Masters and last year he reached the semi-final so will drop 400 points while he was next expected to play at the Barcelona Open (no points to defend).

The Madrid Open will be the final event he misses as it runs from 23 April until 4 May. Sinner made the quarter-final last year so will drop 200 points.

He is expected to make his return at his home event, the Italian Open, which runs from May 7-18.

That is likely to be his only clay-court tournament before the 2025 French Open as the Roland Garros tournament gets underway on 28 May.

The season then moves to grass and Sinner will likely play one warm-up event before Wimbledon starts on 30 June.

Sinner won two Grand Slams with the controversy hanging over his head as he lifted the US Open last September, shortly after the ITIA announced he had been cleared, while he also successfully defended his Australian Open title at the start of 2025.

The post Jannik Sinner doping ban: Which tournaments will world No 1 miss due to suspension? appeared first on Tennis365.

Novak Djokovic’s treatment during the Australian Open was ‘out of order’, according to Sky Sports Tennis lead presenter Gigi Salmon.

Djokovic’s tempestuous relationship with tennis fans around the world has been a theme throughout his career, as he has struggled to get the acclaim he might expect after a record-breaking career.

With 24 Grand Slam titles to his credit, more weeks as world No 1 than any player in history and a host of additional records that will cement his legacy as the most successful male tennis player of all-time, the 37-year-old would have the right to demand some acclaim from tennis fans.

Yet Djokovic was booed and jeered off court after he was forced to pull out of his Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev due to a hamstring injury.

That reaction from the fans sparked a big debate over Djokovic’s popularity battle, while a spat with Australian broadcaster Tony Jones also marred his time in Melbourne.

Jones mocked Djokovic and Serbian fans live on Channel 9 television, with the 10-time Australian Open champion refusing to do an on-court interview until the veteran presenter apologised for his jibes.

Now Salmon has given her verdict on the Djokovic controversies, as she insisted the tennis icon should be treated better.

“It’s disrespectful, it’s awful,” said Salmon, as she reflected on the constant negativity directed at Djokovic.

“He’s one of the greatest of all-time and in some people’s opinion the greatest, and they are booing him.

“He has given everything and more to this sport and yet there is still this feeling of negativity towards him.

“We put it (being booed off against Zverev) down to ticket holders spending a lot of money and being disappointed that the match ended early, but that was not an excuse.

“You could see he gave everything. Maybe someone who was sitting a long way back couldn’t see what we could see, but our commentary box for that match was at ground level and we could see his movement was being affected.

“When he was pushed out wide, we could see he was struggling. As he turned around, we could see his face and he was grimacing in pain. We knew he wasn’t right.

“It was a surprise the way it ended. A volley into the net and suddenly the match was over, but when you look back at the story behind the injury and how he didn’t train in the days before, you can understand it better.

“Then you look at the Channel 9 comments from Tony Jones they were out of order. I know people have different senses of humour in different countries, but as soon as I saw that I thought it was out of order and disrespectful.

More Tennis News

Novak Djokovic identifies the player who will be the new face of men’s tennis

Novak Djokovic’s ranking, prize money, sponsors and his next tournament

“As we know, Novak Djokovic will stand up for himself and he did that. The apology came and we all moved on.”

Salmon believes Djokovic has grown tired of his role as the ‘disruptor’ in men’s tennis, as she suggests the acclaim he craves will only come when he ends his career.

“I think there is a feeling that he will be appreciated when he stops playing,” she continued.

“That isn’t fair in many respects, but I think there is total respect for what he has achieved and in some ways his arrival on the scene was too late.

“People loved the rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and this third guy as the disrupter. The fans have already divided up their loyalty and there was none left for Djokovic.

“I think he embraced the role of being the baddie and then he wants to be loved. Maybe that will come when he stops playing and everyone sits back and says ‘wow, that was an amazing career’.”

Djokovic has suggested his encouraging performances in Australia have fuelled the rest of 2025, with Salmon suggesting the win against Carlos Alcaraz was evidence that a 25th Grand Slam title can come for the Serbian legend.

“Djokovic’s performance in his win against Alcaraz shows the level is still there if the body allows him to get No 25,” she added.

Sky Sports is the home to more live tennis than anywhere else. Watch year-round action including the ATP and WTA Tours and US Open exclusively on Sky Sports and NOW.

READ NEXT: Novak Djokovic suffers a rankings blow as he prepares to return to action

The post Novak Djokovic treatment ‘out of order’ as leading tennis voice describes abuse as ‘awful’ appeared first on Tennis365.