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Jannik Sinner - Cincinnati Open 2024 and Nick Kyrgios - Australian Open 2022

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Jannik Sinner ‘should be gone for two years’ after failed doping tests claims Nick Kyrgios

Matthew Johns
Matthew Johns
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Nick Kyrgios has reacted to the news that Jannik Sinner has been cleared of wrongdoing after failing two anti-doping tests, with the Australian describing the situation as ‘ridiculous’.Sinner has just come off the back of winning the Cincinnati Masters title for the first time, but the World No.1 has not been able to celebrate for too long after it was announced that two of his samples back in March contained the substance of clostebol. Clostebol is a performance enhancing steroid and is prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The original sample produced by Sinner at Indian Wells contained low levels of clostebol, with the same substance remaining in his system for the second sample eight days later. Unknown to the public, Sinner was provisionally suspended for this in line with WADA policy, but the
Australian Open champion appealed after claiming that a contamination had occurred as a result of a massage and his suspension was subsequently overturned.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) have released a lengthy statement to explain the situation, “The player explained that the substance had entered their system as a result of contamination from a support team member, who had been applying an over-the-counter spray (available in Italy) containing clostebol to their own skin to treat a small wound. “That support team member applied the spray between 5 and 13 March, during which time they also provided daily massages and sports therapy to Sinner, resulting in unknowing transdermal contamination. Following consultation with scientific experts, who concluded that the player’s explanation was credible, the ITIA did not oppose the player’s appeals to lift the provisional suspensions.” The statement continued, “A thorough investigation by the ITIA followed, including multiple in-depth interviews with Sinner and their support team, all of whom co-operated fully with the process. Following that investigation, and in line with the independent scientific advice, the ITIA accepted the player’s explanation as to the source of clostebol found in their sample and that the violation was not intentional.“
Although Sinner had his suspension overturned, the Italian will lose the 400 ranking points and $320,000 earned in prize money for reaching the semi-finals in Indian Wells when the first sample was taken. After the news broke out, Sinner released a statement of his own, “I will now put this challenging and deeply unfortunate period behind me. I will continue to do everything I can to ensure I continue to comply with the ITIA’s anti-doping programme and I have a team around me that are meticulous in their own compliance.“ As expected, this news has created widespread conversation including from some of Sinner’s peers, with 2022
Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios criticising the ruling of this investigation. “Ridiculous – whether it was accidental or planned. You get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance… you should be gone for 2 years,” Kyrgios said on X (formerly known as Twitter). “Your performance was enhanced. Massage cream…. Yeah nice.”
Sinner now has a week away from the matchcourt after this news has broken out, before returning to action as the top seed at the US Open.Inside the baseline…
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This is a very messy situation and there is a lot of angry people at the lack of transparency from the International Tennis Integrity Agency, especially those that are voicing on behalf of players who have not had the opportunity to overturn suspensions and have played the whole thing out in public. The statement suggests that the amount of clostebol in Sinner’s system was very minimal, but the whole situation leaves a bad taste in the mouth of anyone who believes in fairness.
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