Dan Evans has branded Jannik Sinner’s return to the professional tour at the Rome Masters ‘pretty convenient’, ahead of the Italian’s anticipated comeback.
The statements come just days after Sinner’s three-month suspension from competing came to an end, with the world No 1 returning to action on Saturday.
Sinner accepted the suspension in February after a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), one which made clear that both sides agreed that the Italian did not ‘intend’ to intake the banned anabolic steroid clostebol.
“The whole thing is pretty convenient,” Evans commented, whilst speaking on BBC Five Live Sport.
“I think a lot of the players are thinking [that] the comeback in Rome, which massive for Italian tennis, it seems pretty convenient. By the way, like Broads said, this is not Jannik’s problem, this is a tennis problem.
“From the outside, from the public, they’re looking in and thinking that he’s had preferential treatment. The ranking being where it is [ATP world No 1] kind of adds to that as well, and I think it’s a difficult one to pick the bones out of.”
The controversy first started in August, after it was announced that Sinner had failed two doping tests in March 2024.
These results were not revealed until late summer, due to an independent tribunal finding that the world No 1 had ‘no fault or negligence’ for the failed tests.
“I think that the issue has been that people felt that he’s received preferential treatment,” Naomi Broady added.
“I think that’s what a lot of the players have not been happy about. It’s the lack of consistency. Even the fact that you can come to an agreement for how long you are banned, it should just – the goalposts shouldn’t move.
“If you’ve tested positive, that’s your ban. I don’t know why you should be able to negotiate, that, to me, doesn’t make much sense.
“Even the way that he was still able to play whilst the case was ongoing, for all of the other players, if you test positive, you sit on the sidelines and you wait. We seen that, with Simona Halep, you sit on the sidelines and wait. For some people, it is years, it can take a really long time.”
Sinner was found to have ‘no fault or negligence’ due to the Italian claiming that his physio had used an over-the-counter cream – which contained the steroid – to treat a minor finger wound on himself, before giving a massage to the Italian.
However, WADA sought to overturn the independent tribunal’s findings and argued that the three-time Grand Slam champion carried some level of responsibility for his team’s actions – dropping their appeal after the settlement was reached.
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Since the August revelation, Sinner has split with fitness coach Umberto Ferrara and physio Giacomo Naldi – the former of whom recently joined the team of Matteo Berrettini.
“Even though he knew he had tested positive because of the physio [in April], they only parted ways when he received the ban,” said Broady.
Evans further argued: “One of his best friends [Berrettini] is using the same physio, the Italians have no issue with this physio, clearly. For three months, he’s clearly not bothered about what has happened and the process of it all.”
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