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Jannik Sinner has suffered a major blow in his mid-suspension training plans after the Monte-Carlo Country Club confirmed it was subject to World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules.

World No 1 and three-time Grand Slam champion Sinner is serving a three-month suspension after he and WADA agreed to a settlement in his doping case.

The Italian’s suspension was confirmed on February 15th and backdated to February 9th, meaning he will be able to return to ATP Tour action from May 5th.

However, under the terms of his suspension, the 23-year-old is not allowed to train at recognised venues until mid-April.

The  WADA statement read: “Under the terms of the agreement, Mr. Sinner will serve his period of ineligibility from 9 February 2025 to 11:59 pm on 4 May 2025 (which includes a credit for four days previously served by the athlete while he was under a provisional suspension).

“As per the Code Article 10.14.2, Mr. Sinner may return to official training activity from 13 April 2025.”

Sinner is based in Monte Carlo, and it was initially reported that the world No 1 would be able to train at the state’s famed country club.

The Country Club is a private members club and was thought to not be subject to affiliate rules, connecting it to any official tennis body.

However, in a new statement, the club has confirmed that the venue is affiliated with both the French and Monegasque tennis associations, and Sinner is therefore ineligible to practice there until April 13.

The statement read: “The Monte-Carlo Country Club is affiliated with both tennis federations: French and Monegasque.

“It is a private club but this does not exempt it from its obligations, namely that of affiliation: Monegasque because it is the tennis club of the Principality, but a club of such size could not have been built on Monegasque territory, and French because it is located on French territory in Roquebrune Cape Martin.”

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The venue is best known for playing host to the Monte Carlo Masters, one of the most famed and prestigious titles up for grabs on the ATP Tour.

However, it is a frequent training base for several tennis players, many of whom are based in Monte Carlo.

Sinner was a semi-finalist at the event in 2024, falling to eventual champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in three sets in the last four.

However, not only will he not be able to train at the venue until mid-April, but he will also be unable to compete at the tournament this year.

The event will be held from 7-13 April, meaning the world No 1 will still be suspended when the event takes place.

It is one of four Masters 1000 events that Sinner will miss during his suspension, alongside Indian Wells, the Miami Open, and the Madrid Open.

Sinner is the defending Miami champion and will lose quarter-final points in Madrid, though he was stripped of his Indian Wells semi-final points when first sanctioned for his doping violation.

Read Next: The 8 longest Grand Slam men’s singles finals: ft Djokovic, Nadal, Federer

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Novak Djokovic has made it clear that he is no longer motivated by climbing the ATP Rankings, but he will appreciate the significance of the next few weeks as he returns to action on American hard courts.

The former world No 1 is playing a reduced tournament schedule in the final chapters of his career, as he looks to find a balance between avoiding injuries and getting in enough match practice.

That plan didn’t work out for Djokovic in the first Grand Slam of 2025, as he was forced to pull out of his Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev with a hamstring problem.

Yet he is back to full fitness ahead of the first ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season, with the opportunity to leap up the rankings there for Djokovic to grab.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion is defending just 50 points after he was beaten by Luca Nardi in his second match at Indian Wells last year, so he will add 950 points to his tally if he wins the title in California for a sixth time.

He opted against playing at the Miami Open last year and while there is a strong chance he will follow that approach once again, he could change his schedule and chase the 1000 points that will be on offer in that tournament.

Djokovic is currently at No 7 in the ATP Rankings and if he were to win the Indian Wells title, he could leap back into the top four.

More points in Miami could cement his position in the top four heading into the European clay court season, where he could also pick up valuable ranking points ahead of the French Open.

While chasing ranking points is no longer a focus for Djokovic, he would benefit from a return to the top four of the ATP Rankings ahead of the French Open.

That would ensure he avoids a meeting with defending Roland Garros Carlos Alcaraz, world No 2 Alexander Zverev and world No 1 Jannik Sinner before the semi-finals in Paris.

The impact of Djokovic falling out of the top four in the ATP Rankings was in evidence at the Australian Open, as he played a gruelling match against Alcaraz in the quarter-finals that led to his withdrawal against Zverev a few days later.

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“Older players fall into this trap every time that they are trying to save their body and they don’t always get a good balance on playing enough matches,” said former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash, in an exclusive interview with Tennis365.

“You tend to see older players start to lose five-set matches or have more bad days and that’s natural.

“That’s match toughness. I know Novak has played a lot of matches over the course of his career, but he still needs to be match-tough going into a best-of-five-set Grand Slam tournament.

“We often say you can’t afford to get into tough five-set matches in the first week of a Slam as you need to stay fresh and that’s especially true when you get older.

“If you don’t have enough matches under your belt and you play a long one early on, I tell you what, you are going to be so sore.

“That’s the big secret for Novak in the next few months. If he can get his schedule right and make sure he has the right number of matches under his belt, he can win again.”

Djokovic has just 600 ranking points to defend from 2024 ahead of the French Open and if he can up to 1,500 ranking points to his total, he will have a good chance of being among the top four seeds heading into Roland Garros.

The Serbian has made it clear that a 25th Grand Slam title is the primary target in his sights in 2025 and his best chance to achieve that goal will be boosted if he can jump up the ATP Rankings in March.

READ NEXT: Novak Djokovic’s plan for 2025 may be flawed, claims former Wimbledon champion

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Andy Murray’s Uber Eats advert appeared to create a positive stir when it was released in Australia, but it has now been confirmed that he has been taken off air.

Murray had planned to fly to Australia to film the high energy advert before he was asked by Novak Djokovic to be his coach for the first Grand Slam tournament of 2025.

The advert saw Murray answering the door of his hotel and looking surprised by the presence of the Uber Eats delivery man and woman.

When they inform him they have arrived to collect him and not make a delivery, Murray quickly turns on his James Bond mode and runs for safety.

He eventually escapes after jumping through a glass window, with the humorous advert catching plenty of eyes as it was launched around the time of the Australian Open.

Murray declared he had enjoyed making the advert, but the complaints quickly began to flow as the idea that Uber Eats could ‘kidnap’ Murray was criticised.

“Why is kidnapping being promoted as a normal act? It is against the law. The Uber ads will teach children it is ok to kidnap people,” said one social media user.

Another added: “I am very concerned that the violence and criminal behaviour shown, and also heavily suggested, in this series of advertisements is a risk and a danger to the community.

“It is disturbing, unpleasant and uncomfortable to watch, especially seeing the fear and panic depicted by the victim, Andy Murray.”

The complaints were upheld by the as a standards panel in Australia suggested the scenes ‘depicted violent and threatening behaviour’ under two sections of the Australian Association of National Advertisers’ code of ethics.

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In response to the panel’s decision, UberEats commented: “UberEats thanks the Ad Standards Community Panel for its consideration and we acknowledge the valuable role they continue to play to promote responsible advertising.

“We maintain that the scenes broadcast were sufficiently exaggerated for comedic and dramatic effect and that no reasonable viewer would consider them realistic or as an endorsement of unsafe behaviour. Even so, we would like to thank the four members of the community for sharing their perspectives.

“The multi-part series of advertisements follow two delivery people attempting to deliver Andy Murray via the Uber Eats app.

“At the end of the final advertisement, Andy Murray became ‘available for order’ through a competition on the Uber Eats app and the campaign concluded with a meet and greet experience for one app user.

“The advertisements should be considered in the context of this broader storyline played out during the campaign.”

Murray’s trip to Australia ended in disappointment as Djokovic was forced to pull out of the Australian Open due to injury in his semi-final against Alexander Zverev.

Now the Grand Slam winning duo are set to continue their surprise partnership set to continue over the next few months as Murray is expected to continue to coach Djokovic at the Indian Wells and Miami Open events over the next few weeks.

There is also an expectation that they duo will continue to work together through the French Open in May.

READ NEXT: The 5 men who have won the most hard-court ATP 500 titles: Novak Djokovic 2nd, Roger Federer on 21

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Indian Wells is set to welcome the biggest names in the sport to its idyllic tennis garden in the desert, with so much at stake in the first ATP Masters 1000 tournament of 2025.

With world No 1 Jannik Sinner absent as he serves a three-month drug ban, Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz will be the top seeds and her are five big predictions for the men’s event in California.

CARLOS ALCARAZ READY TO SHINE

The world No 3 will return to Indian Wells to defend his title and if he is fully fit, the Spaniard will be the man to beat.

The reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion relishes the slick hard courts in this tournament and he is also a big fans’ favourite in America.

If his serve is firing and that fearsome forehand is ripping through the court at full velocity, Alcaraz will fancy his chances of retaining his crown.

THE NOVAK DJOKOVIC QUESTION

Novak Djokovic was beaten by lucky loser Luca Nardi in this tournament a year ago and that performance provided the first big indicator that Djokovic was losing his desire to play in regular ATP Tour events.

After winning his 24th Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open, Djokovic went through a challenging start to last year as the defeat against Nardi was backed up by his split from long-time coach Goran Ivanisevic.

Djokovic’s motivation issues continued for most of last year, as he focused on winning a gold medal at the Paris Olympic Games in August.

Now he appears to have rediscovered some of his motivation and there is an expectation that former world No 1 Andy Murray will join him in Indian Wells to continue their intriguing player-coach partnership.

Djokovic was hugely impressive in his win against Alcaraz at the Australian Open and if he can bring that form with him to America, he could be a contender to lift his 100th career title.

AMERICAN AWAITS

Taylor Fritz won the Indian Wells crown in 2022 with a famous win against Rafael Nadal in the final and he will lead the American challenge once again this time.

A third round defeat at the Australian Open represented a disappointing start to the season for this big serving American and he will expect to post a much better showing in the two ATP 1000 tournaments coming up in Indian Wells and Miami in March.

Tommy Paul will also get plenty of support from his home fans and the player to watch may be the big-serving Ben Shelton, who will be keen to bounce back from a defeat against Belgian veteran David Goffin in Acapulco this week.

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THE YOUNG GUNS

Plenty of eyes will fall on Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien as they look to make their mark at ATP Masters 1000 level.

Brazilian teenager Fonseca is already a huge star in his homeland and his stunning debut ATP Tour win at the Argentina Open earlier this month highlighted his stunning potential.

Fonseca already looks like a complete player at the age of 18 and he will be a danger to anyone drawn against him.

Tien is a little older than Fonseca at the age of 19, but this young American is making waves this year after he reached the fourth round at the Australian Open.

He lost against Fonseca in the decisive match of the ATP Next Gen Finals last November, but had shown his impressive progress by beating top ten stars Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev this year.

LOOK OUT FOR

Britain’s Jack Draper has not made it past the quarter-finals at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament, but his time is coming.

A semi-finalist at last year’s US Open, he reached the final in Qatar earlier this month and will relish the conditions in Indian Wells, where he reached the fourth round in 2023.

After losing in round one last year, he has a chance to pick up plenty of ranking points in this event and that could propel Draper into the top 10 of the ATP Rankings for the first time.

Matteo Berrettini is another player to watch over the next few weeks on America hard courts.

The 2022 Wimbledon finalist impressively beat Novak Djokovic in Qatar and his power-packed game is a handful for any opponent when he is firing.

Finally, America’s Alex Michelsen is rising star who could have a big run at Indian Wells after his solid start to 2025 included a run to the last-16 of the Australian Open and a run to the semi-finals of the ATP 250 tournament in Delray Beach earlier this month.

READ NEXT: 2025 Indian Wells: When is the draw? Who are the top seeds? Will Novak Djokovic and Emma Raducanu play?

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Former US Open champion Marin Cilic has claimed there are “not answered” questions following the resolution of Jannik Sinner’s doping case.

World No 1 and three-time Grand Slam champion Sinner has been banned for three months after twice testing positive for clostebol back in March 2024.

The 23-year-old  settled with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) earlier this month, having initially been found to be of “no fault” – and handed no suspension – by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).

WADA announced its appeal into the ITIA’s ruling last September, though the settlement with Sinner means that the case will no longer be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in April.

Had WADA been successful in an appeal to CAS, 23-year-old Sinner could have faced a ban of up to two years in length.

While a three-month suspension may ultimately be seen as a positive outcome for the Italian, the unexpected announcement of a settlement has taken many by surprise.

Among those left surprised was former world No 3 Cilic, who knows better than most the complexities behind doping cases.

The Croatian tested positive for banned substance nikethamide in April 2013 and was initially handed a nine-month suspension, though this was later reduced to four months on appeal.

Speaking at the Dubai Tennis Championships this week, the 36-year-old revealed he did not know it was “possible” to approach a settlement with WADA.

While he also defended Sinner, Cilic expressed his belief that there were still “not answered” issues surrounding the process faced by the Italian.

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He said: “I didn’t know that was possible.

“Looking at it as a player-to-player, I am happy for Jannik that finally he’s going to be out of it. He’s going to have his mind free. I completely believe him in his story.

“I know him for many years. When he was a kid, you could see he’s like a true athlete. [I am] Happy that he can go through, but it raises questions, many questions which are not answered yet.”

Cilic’s Dubai campaign ended with a quarter-final defeat to Felix Auger-Aliassime on Thursday, though his run will still see him jump back into the top 150 of the ATP Rankings on Monday.

Meanwhile, Sinner will not be back in ATP action until the Italian Open in Rome, which starts just days after his suspension period ends on May 4th.

The world No 1 will not be able to defend his Miami Open title and will also miss out on playing further Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells, Monte Carlo, and Madrid.

However, he will return in time for his home event, before playing at Roland Garros later in May.

Read Next: The extensive list of conditions that Jannik Sinner must follow during 3-month ban

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Andy Roddick has heaped praise on Mirra Andreeva, after she won the biggest title of her career at the WTA 1000 event in Dubai, believing that she can rise to the top of the world’s rankings.

Andreeva defeated Dane Clara Tauson 7-6(1), 6-1 in the Dubai final to become the youngest-ever WTA 1000 winner in the format’s history.

With the victory, the Russian entered the top 10 for the first time – being the youngest to do so since 2007 – and now sits as the world No 9 at just 17 years old.

“Mirra Andreeva is going to be number one in the world at some point,” stated the former world No 1, on his ‘Served with Andy Roddick’ podcast.

“I watched her more this week continuously – because normally it’s in a Slam. But she serves so much better than people give her credit for and it’s only going to get better.

“What I worried about was that she is not one of the physical phenom specimens of a [Jennifer] Capriati or a [Lindsay] Davenport or a Venus [Williams] or a Serena [Williams]. The one I can think of who is a phenom not in the too distant past is [Martina] Hingis, who then got overpowered.

“So Andreeva, is she going to be able to create enough pace to not get overpowered by [Aryna] Sabalenka or Swiatek? She has beaten both of them.”

En route to her Dubai title, Andreeva defeated three Grand Slam champions – Marketa Vondrousova, Iga Swiatek, and Elena Rybakina.

Roddick went on to state: “She is an elite mover already, she creates enough pace and what I am going to talk about that nobody does. Her ability to play against people’s movement makes her shots bigger. She doesn’t have to go big to go through you.

“Her preparation is good enough where she can pull the ripcord and play behind the women that she’s playing against consistently. And if the rally builds she can stay in it and tee up. She has options. IQ beyond her years – Conchita Martinez has done an amazing job guiding the ship. But she serves great.

“I was watching her and thinking why is nobody talking about this? Maybe it is like it can improve things and she has 30% runway in physicality, she is going to get bigger, stronger and faster. It’s not as if it is going to go the other way.”

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After her Dubai victory, the young Russian revealed that her initial aim was to end 2025 ranked inside the world’s top 10: “Now when you enter Top 10 and the higher your ranking is, the slower and longer it’s going to take for you to be even higher because the difference in the points is very, very short, very small.

“I think it’s going to be hard to enter Top 5. This is the exact goal that I’m going to set for myself, to be Top 5 by the end of the year. I’m very curious if I will be able to achieve it.”

Mirra Andreeva is next scheduled to participate at the Indian Wells event, March 5^th – March 16^th.

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The 2025 Indian Wells tournament is about to begin, representing the first ATP Masters 1000 and the third WTA 1000 tournament of the season.

Former champions include Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Iga Swiatek, and Serena Williams.

When and where does the 2025 Indian Wells tournament take place?

The tournament will take place at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, located in California, having been held there since 1987.

Often called the ‘fifth slam’, Indian Wells has the fifth-highest attendance of any tennis tournament, with the main court having a capacity of 16,100 spectators – only behind Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open.

The event helps comprise half of what is known as the ‘sunshine double’, a series of hard-court tournaments in North America, with the Miami Open – taking place in late March – forming the other half.

Main-draw matches will take place from March 5^th – March 16^th for both the ATP and the WTA.

What happened at the 2024 tournament?

At the 2024 edition, Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek lifted the singles trophies at Indian Wells.

The Spaniard won his second consecutive title at the ‘fifth slam’, in a repeat of the previous year’s final, defeating Daniil Medvedev 7-6(5), 6-1 to lift his fifth Masters 1000 title.

Meanwhile, Swiatek defeated Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-0 in the final to win her second Indian Wells title, in a repeat of the 2022 final.

Who will compete in 2025?

For the WTA, Aryna Sabalenka leads the way as the top seed, with Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, and Jessica Pegula filling out the spaces of the other top four seeds.

Emma Raducanu has decided to participate in the tournament, after accepting extra security following a man displaying ‘fixated behaviour’ towards her during the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai.

Alexander Zverev will arrive at Indian Wells as the ATP’s top seed, with the defending champion headlining the other half of the draw. Novak Djokovic will be seeking a historic 100^th title, whilst 2022 champion Taylor Fritz will also feature.

Who will not compete in 2025?

World No 16 Barbora Krejcikova will not compete, due to an ongoing back injury.

Jannik Sinner, the world No 1, also will not compete at Indian Wells, after he accepted a three-month ban for failing two doping tests during the tournament in 2024.

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How many points will Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev drop in March?

When will the draw take place?

The 2025 Indian Wells ATP and WTA draws will take place on March 3^rd, from 3pm – 4pm local time.

Can Carlos Alcaraz overtake Alex Zverev?

With Sinner unable to play until May, both Alcaraz and Zverev will be looking to get closer to the Italian’s ranking spot.

However, the Spaniard is defending 1000 points from the 2024 edition, meaning he cannot reach the world No 2 spot. The German is only defending 150 points, with a hypothetical deep run putting considerable distance between himself and Alcaraz.

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Holger Rune has stated that he is ‘furious’ after having to retire from his second-round match in Acapulco, due to supposed food poisoning. Casper Ruud and Tommy Paul withdrew from their scheduled last 16 matches, similarly from food poisoning.

Rune had won just four points during his second-round match in Acapulco against Brandon Nakashima, retiring after going down 3-0 in the first set.

“Furious and so sad at the same time,” the Dane stated on X, after his retirement.

“Had a food poisoning and was unable to play today.  One of my favorite places is Mexico and I love this tournament @AbiertoTelcel. Absolutely not the way I wanted it to end.”

Furious and so sad at the same time. Had a food poisoning and was unable to play today. One of my favorite places is Mexico and I love this tournament @AbiertoTelcel . Absolutely not the way I wanted it to end

— Holger Rune (@holgerrune2003) February 27, 2025

The former world No 4 has had a disappointing 2025 season, losing in the opening round in Brisbane and Buenos Aires, and falling in the second round of Rotterdam.

Rune did have a solid run at the Australian Open, beating Zhang Zhizhen, Matteo Berrettini, and Miomir Kecmanovic, before being defeated by Jannik Sinner in the fourth round.

In Buenos Aires, the Dane stated on social media that he had suffered from a strong fever – before withdrawing from the Rio Open just days later: “Looking back, I think it was too early to play after my influenza last week

“My shoulder was not working and the whole body seemed extremely vulnerable. I will take the time and get proper rest now. When the body is not there, the brain shuts down and I am just very sorry I couldn’t deliver what I wanted on court today. Sorry Argentina.”

Casper Ruud and Tommy Paul did not even take to the court for their respective second-round matches, again, due to suspected food poisoning.

The Norwegian took to his Instagram to say: “I’m so sorry I had to pull out tonight. I was hoping to overcome this stomach illness that showed up yesterday and tried everything I could to be able to play tonight, until the very last moment.

“Hoping to come back stronger in a couple of days and come back here to Mexico next year. Thanks for now, Acapulco.”

Ruud was scheduled to play world No 356 Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez, who becomes the first Mexican tour-level quarter-finalist since 1998.

Meanwhile, Paul was pencilled to play fellow American Marcos Giron – before the world No 10 withdrew.

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The seeds further tumbled in Acapulco after Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton lost in straight sets during their second-round matches.

Zverev, the top seed, suffered yet another shock loss – this time against Learner Tien, 6-3, 6-4. The American had previously gained the biggest win of his career, by ranking, at the 2025 Australian Open after defeating Daniil Medvedev in a five-set thriller.

The German would have hoped to close the gap with world No 1 Jannik Sinner, who is suspended from the tour for a three-month period, but has failed to win three consecutive matches in Buenos Aires, Rio, and, now Acapulco.

Shelton squeaked by Flavio Cobolli in two tie-break sets during his opening match, but fell to former world No 7 David Goffin, 7-6(3), 6-3.

The two losses mean that none of the top five seeds remain in the tournament.

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Alexander Zverev missed out on another significant chance to gain ground on world No 1 Jannik Sinner as he suffered an early exit at the 2025 Mexican Open.

The world No 2 was upset 6-3, 6-4 by world No 83 Learner Tien in the second round of the ATP 500 tournament in Acapulco.

Zverev, who was the top seed at the Mexican Open, was decisively broken by his 19-year-old American opponent at 3-4 in the opening set.

The 27-year-old German then built a 4-1 lead in the second set before losing five straight games to collapse to a chastening defeat.

Zverev is one of several top players in Acapulco who was reportedly affected by stomach issues or food poisoning, with the draw taking a big hit on Wednesday.

Casper Ruud and Tommy Paul both withdrew before their second round matches, while Holger Rune retired after three games. Alex Michelsen, who lost to Denis Shapovalov, was also apparently impacted.

Despite the circumstances surrounding Zverev’s latest defeat, it concluded a disappointing Latin American swing for the German as he missed three big opportunities to win titles and collect a sizeable amount of points.

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With Sinner banned from playing on the ATP Tour until May 4 due to failed doping tests, both Zverev and world No 3 Carlos Alcaraz have a chance to catch the world No 1.

In the previous two weeks, Zverev lost in the quarter-finals at both the Argentina Open and the Rio Open — clay-court events at which he was a strong favourite based on ranking.

The three-time major finalist’s second round exit in Mexico leaves him with the 8,135 points with which he began the week.

Zverev, who ground out a three-set win over Matteo Arnaldi in the first round, earned 50 points for his second round result. He could have earned a further 450 points had he won the title.

This means Zverev remains 3,195 points adrift of Sinner — a sizeable gap to make up despite the Italian’s absence from the tour.

Sinner will drop 1,600 while he is sidelined, which will leave him on 9,730 points when he makes his expected comeback at the Italian Open in May.

Zverev will, therefore, need to surpass this points total by the time of Sinner’s return to become world No 1 for the first time.

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