World Number 1 and winner of the last two Grand Slams, Jannik Sinner is banned from tennis for three months after testing positive for banned substances. But with the world’s best tennis player set to return before Roland Garros, where does the power really lie in tennis?
The bigger you are, the smaller the punishment.
That seems to be the unsettling truth whenever a major sports star pops for a performance-enhancing drug.
When it was announced back in August that Jannik Sinner had been under investigation for using the banned substance clostebol, it rocked the tennis world. But no sooner had the news been released, Sinner was cleared of any wrongdoing by an independent tribunal.
Sinner then went on to win the US Open a month later, and all looked peachy. But WADA had not given up their pursuit of a ban for Sinner and appealed the tribunal's decision to the Court of Arbitration, initially seeking a ban of one to two years. Sinner was, however, free to play while the court made their decision and went on to win yet another Grand Slam, this time in Australia, where he defended his 2024 title.
All looked clear and bright for Sinner, until a few days ago when he settled with WADA, agreeing to a three-month ban from tennis, starting from 9th February and ending on the 4th May. Remember those dates.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Settled? How can a potential ban for using a performance-enhancing drug end in a settlement?” This is the question that every sports fan should have. Either Sinner is innocent or he is guilty; there should be no question of a settlement.
Sinner agreeing to the settlement is in itself an admission of guilt; whether this means it was intentional or not is beside the point. Tennis players, and most professional athletes, have extensive teams behind them; this sort of thing should never be allowed to happen even if it was an accident.
What makes Sinner’s settlement event more disturbing is that he will not miss a single Grand Slam tournament; his ban ends on the 4th of May, with Roland Garros beginning on the 19th of May. This ‘ban’ is barely even a slap on the wrist; while he will not participate in several Masters events, Sinner is likely to maintain his world number 1 status by the time he returns.
Whatever side you are on, this is a terrible look for tennis. You have to ask the question, “If this wasn’t the best tennis player in the world, would the punishment be more severe?”
Drugs in sport should be black and white, but Sinner has demonstrated that if you are good enough, then grey will do just fine. Tennis needs Jannik Sinner and his future rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz to keep the sport relevant and engaging to its audience, and Sinner and his team have taken full advantage of this.
Sinner is likely to become extremely unpopular in the aftermath of this fiasco, not just with the fans but with players too, who have already begun to declare accusations of favouritism, with Novak Djokovic the biggest player to do so.
Whether you believe Sinner took clostebol intentionally or not (WADA has concluded that he didn’t take it willingly), several other players have faced much harsher sanctions in the past. Tara Moore, a lesser-known British player, was suspended for 18 months in May 2022 while a tribunal investigated her adverse findings, only to declare that contaminated meat was the source.
Sinner has faced no ban since clostebol was first found in his system nearly a year ago and has won two Grand Slams in that time. The fact that he has effectively been allowed to choose when to serve his ban is a disgrace.
The tennis authorities should hang their heads in shame that this has been allowed to happen because it sends a terrible precedent to the rest of the tour. What if Carlos Alcaraz sees this and decides to 'accidentally' slip some clostebol into his system, knowing full well he can negotiate his way into a lesser punishment than if Jack Draper popped?
It isn’t just the men’s game; world number 2 and five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek quietly served a one-month ban for a banned substance at the end of 2024. Again, it was found to be accidental contamination, but adverse findings are adverse findings.
Regardless of where you stand, the last few months have been a PR disaster for tennis; I fear the sport’s governing bodies have missed an opportunity to set a firm precedent on drugs in the sport.
If anything, the message they have sent is clear: All tennis players are equal, but some are more equal than others.
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