Top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner said he was “very disappointed and also surprised” after a decision to clear him of wrongdoing following two positive drug tests was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
The Montreal-based body known as WADA announced Saturday that it is seeking a ban of one to two years for the U.S. Open champion but indicated that it does not plan to backdate an eventual suspension which would mean that Sinner could keep his second Grand Slam title even if he is found guilty.
The appeal to the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) means that the case might not be resolved before Sinner begins defense of his Australian Open title in January. Sinner can continue playing while the appeal is being heard.
The announcement was made while Sinner was on court against Roman Safiullin at the China Open in Beijing.
“Obviously, I’m very disappointed and also surprised of this appeal, to be honest, because we had three hearings. All three hearings came out very positively for me,” the 23-year-old Sinner said after beating Safiullin.
“You know, I was not expecting it. I knew it couple of days ago, that they were going to appeal, that today it’s going to go official, so … it’s surprise,” the Italian added. “Maybe they just want to make sure that everything is in the right position.”
Sinner tested positive twice for an anabolic steroid in March but was not banned in a decision by an independent tribunal announced by the International Tennis Integrity Agency last month because the ITIA determined he was not to blame.
Sinner’s accepted explanation was that the banned performance-enhancer entered his system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist, who had used a spray containing the steroid to treat his own cut finger.
WADA said it filed the appeal to CAS on Thursday. —apnews
