Jannik Sinner ended 2025 on a real high as he won a hat-trick of titles at the in Vienna, Paris and then at the ATP Finals in front of his adoring Italian fans in Turin.
The world No 2 can also reflect on a stunning year that saw him retain his Australian Open title and win his first title at Wimbledon, where he ended Carlos Alcaraz’s reign on the Centre Court at the All England Club in a thrilling final.
Yet this year will also be remembered for his three-month suspension from the sport after he failed two doping tests at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters.
Sinner was initially cleared of wrongdoing by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, but the World Anti-Doping Agency opened its own case against Sinner, forcing the Italian to accept a plea deal that saw him serve a three-month ban between February and May.
The debate over how Sinner’s case was handled will also be a part of his story, with 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic among those suggesting the Italian appeared to get preferential treatment due to his status at the top of men’s tennis.
More Tennis News
ATP Tour star claims there is a ‘big opening’ despite Carlos Alcaraz & Jannik Sinner dominance
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic appear on list of ranking winners as Jannik Sinner drops
“That cloud will follow him just as the cloud of Covid will follow me, for the rest of his, or my career in this case,” said Djokovic, referencing his own controversy when he refused to take a Covid vaccine and was banned from several tournaments in an interview with Piers Morgan.
“It’s just something that was so major and when that happens. You know, over time it will fade, but I don’t think it will disappear. There’s always going to be a certain group of people that will always try to bring that forward.
“I’ve known Jannik since he was probably 13 or 14 years of age because his first coach was my coach, Riccardo Piatti.
“I was practicing a lot with Sinner when he was a junior. I liked him a lot. He was skinny as I was, he was tall, grew up skiing on the mountains.
“He always came across as very genuine, very nice, very quiet. He had his own world and didn’t care too much about the lights of society. He just wanted to be the best player he can be and I liked that.
“When this happened, I was shocked, honestly. I don’t think he did it on purpose, but the way the case was handled, there were so many red flags, honestly.
“There is the lack of transparency, the inconsistency, the convenience of the ban coming, between the Slams, so he doesn’t miss out the others – it’s just, it was very, very odd.
“I really don’t like how the case was being handled and you could hear so many other players, both male and female, who had some similar situations coming out in the media, and complaining that it was a preferable treatment.
“I want to believe (him). My history with him, I think, he didn’t do it on purpose, but of course he is responsible. That’s the rules. So when you see people who had something very similar or same being banned for years and he’s banned for three months, it’s not right.
“It’s not easy for him. I have empathy for him and the storm in the media that comes back at times. It’s not easy for him. And amid all that, he’s playing incredible, winning Slams.”
Djokovic’s comments revived the storm around Sinner’s doping suspension, but it can now be revealed that he paid a heavy financial cost for his doping ban.
Sinner missed out on the potential prize money of $1,201,125 if he had won the Indian Wells Masters and he was denied the chance to challenge for the $1,124,380 top prize at the Miami Masters due to his suspension.
He then missed out on the €946,610 Carlos Alcaraz collected for winning the Monte-Carlo Masters, with the ramifications of missing those three ATP 1000 events felt as he latterly missed out on an ATP Bonus Pool payment that would have been worth around $2million.
Sinner missed four ATP Masters 1000 events in total in 2025 as he also dropped out of the Toronto event in early August, which came shortly after he won the Wimbledon title.
That meant he was ruled out of receiving any payments from the ATP Bonus Pool, which is handed out to the players who are the top performers in the ATP Tour marquee events, so long as they play in all of them.
Sinner may not be too worried about money in a year when he collected $19,114,396 in official prize money and another $6.5million from his win at the Six Kings Slam exhibition event in Saudi Arabia.
The final costly outcome of his ban was Alcaraz’s coronation as the year-end ATP Tour No 1, with the three-month absence of Sinner costing the Italian a chance to challenge his Spanish rival for that crown.
In total and including the missed Bonus Pool payment, Sinner’s doping suspension potentially cost him around $5million, with the stain on his reputation possibly even more costly.
The post Full financial cost of Jannik Sinner’s drug ban revealed as he pays a heavy price appeared first on Tennis365.