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Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev - Miami Open 2024
ATP Tennis Players, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, Tennis News

Daniil Medvedev ‘sympathetic’ to Jannik Sinner after WADA appeal


Daniil Medvedev has reacted to the news that Jannik Sinner’s doping case has been appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Both Medvedev and Sinner are currently in Beijing for the China Open, with the former just exiting at the semi-final stage via a straight sets defeat to Carlos Alcaraz.

While the on-court action is usually the main topic of conversation, this week there has been a lot of focus on off-court news after WADA announced that they would be appealing Sinner’s doping case.

Sinner failed two anti-doping cases within an eight day period back in March, after the banned substance clostebol was found in his system.

However, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) cleared the Italian of any wrongdoing on the grounds of contamination, with Sinner claiming that his former physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi had used a spray containing the substance on his own hand.

And Medvedev was asked by press in Beijing about what he and the rest of the locker room think of the ongoing situation, “Actually, to be honest, I didn’t discuss it much in the locker room, of course except with my Russian friends because we talk more. I would generally think that the view, like everything in life, is some think that he should be banned, whatever, some think no, he should not be.

“My view is always on these things is kind of try to distance myself where the situation is very tough for him, for sure, to deal with it. As I always said, no one wants to be in this situation because, I said it in US Open press, for me imagine tomorrow you get an email, because I think it’s an email, you fail your doping test. They say for whatever reason, like cocaine or some drug you don’t even know the name of.”

Medvedev added, “You’re like: ‘Wow, what I do now because I have no idea how it happened that it’s in my pee, blood, whatever’. So, yeah, it’s a tricky situation. I want to say he does what he needs to do. WADA does probably what they need to do. Let’s see how it finishes. We thought maybe it was finished, but no.”

Despite wanting to distance himself from the case, Medvedev has admitted his sympathy for the World No.1, but does not think that this is a bad look for the sport.

“I’m sympathetic to Jannik,” said Medvedev. “I don’t think it has a bad, really bad look in tennis because I think, yeah, if 10 top-10 players suddenly would be on the same substance or something, it would be different. I think it’s just an individual situation which we’ll see how it ends.”

The appeal of Sinner’s case will be taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but it is currently unclear as to when that will be.

Inside the baseline…

Jannik Sinner has had a rollercoaster year, having had the best results of anyone on the ATP Tour, while also going through a very back-and-forth doping scandal. However, the World No.1 seems to be taking it all in his stride, currently on a 14-match winning streak and has even won both of his matches since being made aware of the appeal. Whatever you think of this doping case, if Sinner was to go on and win the China Open title this week then it would be a phenomenal show of mental resilience.

READ MORE: Carlos Alcaraz claims Jannik Sinner doping appeal is ‘not a good sign for tennis’

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Matthew Johns, Tennishead Writer, is a professional tennis journalist with a specialist degree in Sports Journalism. He's a keen tennis player having represented his local club and University plus he's also a qualified tennis coach. Matthew has a deep knowledge of tennis especially the ATP Tour and thrives on breaking big tennis news stories for Tennishead.