What the players’ reaction to the Sinner doping case says about their confidence in their sport

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced on Tuesday that it has sanctioned men’s world number one Jannik Sinner after testing positive twice for clostebol, an anabolic steroid and a banned substance. It also announced that an independent tribunal convened by ITIA had reviewed its investigation into Sinner’s anti-doping case and found no “fault or negligence” by the Italian.

The ITIA stripped Sinner of his ranking points, prize money and results from the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, where he first tested positive on March 10. The second happened on March 18. Sinner was temporarily suspended. is mandatory for an adverse analytical finding (AAF) of an unspecified substance – after both tests. Both times Sinner appealed the ban, and an independent panel convened by the ITIA heard and upheld the appeal, allowing him to continue playing.

“I will continue to do everything I can to ensure that I remain in compliance with the ITIA anti-doping program, and I have a team around me that is very strict about their own compliance,” Sinner said in a statement on Tuesday.

All these processes follow the rules of the Tennis Anti-doping Program (TADP). But that hasn’t stopped the fury of Sinner’s other players.

“Different rules for different players,” said Canada’s Denis Shapovalov. “I can’t imagine what every player suspended for contaminated substances is feeling right now,” he wrote minutes earlier.

France’s Lucas Pouille said: “Maybe they should stop thinking we’re stupid, right?”

Nick Kyrgios, the Wimbledon runner-up in 2022, said: “Whether it was by accident or by design. You’re tested twice for a banned (steroid) substance … you should be out for two years.

American player Tennys Sandgren added: “This is ridiculous. Used steroids through massage?? ATP always looks out for their moneymakers. Good for business, bad for transparency and honesty.”

Perhaps the most telling was Tara Moore’s opinion. Moore was provisionally suspended by the ITIA in May 2022 after testing positive for the anabolic steroids boldenone and nandrolone. Moore appealed his temporary detention, as did Sinner, but his explanations were not accepted. Moore was then banned from playing for 19 months, but was cleared when an independent tribunal convened by the ITIA ruled that he was not guilty or negligent in giving the positive test. It found that contaminated meat was the source of his positive tests.

“I think that only the image of top players matters. I think only the opinion of the top players by an independent court is considered reasonable and correct. Yet they question them in my case. It just doesn’t make any sense,” he said.

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Moore’s example and his feelings get to the heart of the reaction to the Sinner case. Although the process is carried out according to the ITIA protocol, and although the comparison of different cases is of little use, it aggravates the suspicions of the conquest of double standards in tennis. When these feelings are ignited by doping and sporting integrity, they inevitably get a light.

The best players get a favorable schedule, receive performance bonuses for certain tournaments, and are listened to more closely if they have a problem. Players largely know and accept this and the fact that top players have earned their status. Elite players win matches, tournaments and prize money. They attract large crowds and television networks. Tennis benefits from the names of superstars, and public investment and interest in the sport is largely tied to their presence.

That’s not to say there isn’t resentment, even in situations that have nothing to do with perceived cheating or sporting integrity. Take the French Open this year, when bad weather in the first week meant that most players had to constantly battle through rain-delayed and rescheduled matches. The best players were put on indoor courts every day and they glided through the preliminary rounds without such​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

With Sinner’s verdict, comments from some players reveal a perception that superstars are being treated differently in the most controversial area of ​​sports. Much of the frustration stems from the constant feeling that tennis officials are paired with the top players, match referees on the ATP and WTA Tours.

ITIA chief executive Karen Moorhouse said in a statement about Sinner’s punishment: “We take any positive test very seriously and always follow the strict processes set out by WADA.

“ITIA conducted a thorough investigation into the circumstances leading to the positive tests, with which Mr. Sinner and his representatives fully cooperated.”

In 2017, when Maria Sharapova returned from her 15-month doping ban after testing positive for meldonium, she was given a wild card for the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart. The tournament even delayed the end of its first-round match to allow Sharapova, whose suspension ended on Wednesday, to play in the event.

“It’s not OK,” Barbora Strycova, another player who had been banned for six months for testing positive for sibutramine, a stimulant she claimed came from a weight-loss supplement, said at the time.

“She is Maria and what can you do? I’m not going to get mad about it. I’m actually a little upset about what’s going on in Stuttgart, but I can’t change it, so I don’t think about it.

It’s easy to see why players, whether players like Moore, who have gone through ITIA investigations, or other ATP players, would have similar feelings about the Sinner case. Moore and Simona Halep, who was provisionally suspended in October 2022 for testing positive for roxadustat, also appealed their mandatory provisional exemptions.

Sinner was successful, but Moore and Halep were not, and the rejection of their appeal led to a public announcement of the temporary suspension. Moore was out for 19 months. Halep missed the same time limit but returned after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced her four-year ban (imposed by the ITIA) to nine retroactive months. CAS has not provided full written reasons for the reduction.

Meanwhile, Marco Bortolotti, an Italian doubles player with a career-high 87, avoided a ban this year when, like his countryman, he was found not guilty or negligent in the AAF for clostebol.

Two other Italian players, then 17-year-olds Matilde Paoletti and Mariano Tammaro, tested positive for clostebol in 2021. The same process was followed – mandatory suspension, appeal, investigation, investigation, court. Paoletti was found to have “no fault or negligence”, but Tammaro was banned for two years. Different cases had different results. Another Italian, Stefano Battaglino, received a four-year ban last November after testing positive for clostebol and an independent tribunal ruling that the anti-doping rule violations were intentional.

As for how they are investigated, cases vary in their evidence and complexity. That doesn’t diminish the notion that players are treated differently, or that Sinner has escaped what Moore, Halep (a two-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1) and other players have endured. One of those advantages of having an elite name in tennis is certainly a factor here: financial access to quick legal support and the ability to mobilize resources quickly. The players’ reactions are directed at Sinner because he is the player in question, but ultimately they show their feelings towards tennis systems.

The upshot is that Sinner will now play in the US Open starting Monday, where he will likely be given the most convenient schedule and all the other privileges that top players have. It remains to be seen how his colleagues will receive him.

(Top photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)