Jannik Sinner had already talked about it in the press conference on the sidelines of his triumph at the ATP Finals, but also Simone Vagnozzi, the coach of the young Italian, talked about the thorny Clostebol doping-issue involving his player.
The coach of the ATP No.1, in the press conference following the final of the year-end Masters, was questioned by journalists present in the press room precisely about the case of his player testing positive for Clostebol and the wait for the ruling of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.
Vagnozzi said that Jannik does not deserve any disqualification, underlining how the 2-time Slam champion has done everything he could do. The coach said that Sinner didn’t do anything wrong, that he didn’t make any mistakes and couldn’t avoid that thing.
“As long as we have the opportunity to play, we focus on the next tournament. Now there will be Malaga, he will arrive full of energy to bring home the salad bowl. Then we will have to stop for a bit, recharge the batteries and prepare to arrive at the Australian Open in the best possible way,” he said.
Vagnozzi also considered Sinner’s triumph at the ATP Finalis in front of his crowd as one of the most beautiful and special victories, on par with the two Slams he won. The coach underlined that it hasn’t been an easy period and that all the credit goes to Jannik, because he goes on court with the weight of this situation.
“We could have helped him live this moment in the best way, focusing on what we can control, such as going on court, training and preparing the matches well. Our help is to be close to him and remind him that he hasn’t done anything wrong and has nothing to reproach himself for,” he added.
Sinner himself talked about the Clostebol doping issue on Sunday, after his Finals victory. The media had asked the Italian if he was concerned about the CAS ruling after WADA’s appeal, which could trigger a ban of up to two years.
“I often try to understand what I did wrong and if there was something I could have done better. There was no other way to do better. My team helped me a lot, as you know, because there were nights when I just didn’t sleep. I’m lucky to have Simone Vagnozzi and Darren Cahill: we continued to work every day and we also improved during this period,” explained Jannik.
The doping case that involved Sinner in recent months was reopened following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne by WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, which requested a 1-2 year suspension for the world number 1. The body will have to prove that the Italian is actually guilty and negligent in testing positive for Clostebol, a banned doping substance that came into contact with his body through physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi. The former member of the Italian’s staff had treated a wound to the little finger of his right hand during the Indian Wells tournament with a spray containing Clostebol (without the player’s knowledge), then massaging Jannik without gloves. The involuntary contamination was proven with significant evidence and allowed the native of San Candido not to receive a temporary suspension, winning both appeals, and winning in the hearing at the independent ITIA tribunal.
Following the appeal, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said it takes note of the decision of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to appeal the finding of not guilty or negligent in the case of Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner, issued by an independent tribunal appointed by Sport Resolutions on 19 August 2024. Under the World Anti-Doping Code, WADA has the final right to appeal all such decisions. After reconstructing the sequence of events following a thorough investigative process, the case was referred to a tribunal completely independent of the ITIA to determine the level of negligence. The process was conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the World Anti-Doping Code; however, the ITIA recognises and respects WADA’s right to appeal the decision of the independent tribunal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
A few months ago Jamie Singer, the lawyer who assisted Jannik Sinner in the path that led to the acquittal by the International Tennis Integrity Agency in the Clostebol case, when the Italian tested positive for one of the prohibited substances due to involuntary contamination, gave an exclusive interview to the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, focusing on the appeal to the CAS in Lausanne presented by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
“We are all aware that WADA has the full right to take this action, it was within its possibilities to appeal and we know how complicated the work of supervising doping and the integrity of the world of sport is. Having said that, we believe that the appeal was not really necessary. But we were surprised too, to tell the truth. No one accuses Jannik of having gained an advantage in his performance thanks to Clostebol. For this reason it would be unfair to penalize him in the ranking or in his earnings,” he said.
