Dan Evans has branded Jannik Sinner\u2019s return to the professional tour at the Rome Masters \u2018pretty convenient\u2019, ahead of the Italian\u2019s anticipated comeback.<\/p>\n
The statements come just days after Sinner\u2019s three-month suspension from competing came to an end, with the world No 1 returning to action on Saturday.<\/p>\n
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 \u2018intend\u2019 to intake the banned anabolic steroid clostebol.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole thing is pretty convenient,\u201d Evans<\/a> commented, whilst speaking on BBC Five Live Sport.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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\u2019s problem, this is a tennis problem.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the outside, from the public, they\u2019re looking in and thinking that he\u2019s had preferential treatment. The ranking being where it is [ATP<\/a> world No 1] kind of adds to that as well, and I think it\u2019s a difficult one to pick the bones out of.\u201d<\/p>\n The controversy first started in August, after it was announced that Sinner had failed two doping tests in March 2024.<\/p>\n These results were not revealed until late summer, due to an independent tribunal finding that the world No 1 had \u2018no fault or negligence\u2019 for the failed tests.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that the issue has been that people felt that he\u2019s received preferential treatment,\u201d Naomi Broady added.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s what a lot of the players have not been happy about. It\u2019s the lack of consistency. Even the fact that you can come to an agreement for how long you are banned, it should just\u00a0 \u2013 the goalposts shouldn\u2019t move.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019ve tested positive, that\u2019s your ban. I don\u2019t know why you should be able to negotiate, that, to me, doesn\u2019t make much sense.<\/p>\n \u201cEven 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Sinner was found to have \u2018no fault or negligence\u2019 due to the Italian claiming that his physio had used an over-the-counter cream \u2013 which contained the steroid \u2013 to treat a minor finger wound on himself, before giving a massage to the Italian.<\/p>\n However, WADA sought to overturn the independent tribunal\u2019s findings and argued that the three-time Grand Slam champion carried some level of responsibility for his team\u2019s actions \u2013 dropping their appeal after the settlement was reached.<\/p>\n Juan Carlos Ferrero\u2019s public criticism of Carlos Alcaraz labelled \u2018a risky move\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Rafael Nadal\u2019s ex-coach warns Carlos Alcaraz about his \u2018best in history\u2019 ambition<\/a><\/p>\n Since the August revelation, Sinner has split with fitness coach Umberto Ferrara and physio Giacomo Naldi \u2013 the former of whom recently joined the team of Matteo Berrettini.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though he knew he had tested positive because of the physio [in April], they only parted ways when he received the ban,\u201d said Broady.<\/p>\n Evans further argued: \u201cOne of his best friends [Berrettini] is using the same physio, the Italians have no issue with this physio, clearly. For three months, he\u2019s clearly not bothered about what has happened and the process of it all.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Dan Evans lambasts Jannik Sinner\u2019s Rome return: \u2018Pretty convenient\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dan Evans has branded Jannik Sinner\u2019s return to the professional tour at the Rome Masters \u2018pretty convenient\u2019, ahead of the Italian\u2019s anticipated comeback. The statements come just days after Sinner\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Latest ATP News<\/h3>\n