The world’s No 1 men’s tennis player, Jannik Sinner, twice tested positive for a banned substance in March, it has been revealed. But he was cleared of wrongdoing after proving he had been contaminated by his physiotherapist.
During the Indian Wells hard court tournament in California, Sinner tested positive for low levels of a metabolite of clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid that can be used for ophthalmological and dermatological purposes. Sinner tested positive again eight days later in an out-of-competition sample.
Sinner was provisionally suspended because of those test results and was stripped of prize money and points earned at Indian Wells. But he will not receive a ban because an independent tribunal said it was not intentional.
The Italian 23-year-old said his test results happened because a member of his support team used an over-the-counter spray that contained clostebol to treat a small wound. That team member then gave Sinner massages, causing contamination via “skin lesions” on the player’s body.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), which revealed the case for the first time on Tuesday, said it accepted Sinner’s explanation.
In a statement, Sinner’s representatives said: “Following a thorough and extensive investigation, the ITIA and Jannik discovered the inadvertent contamination of clostebol came through the treatment he received from his physiotherapist. His fitness trainer purchased a product, easily available over the counter in any Italian pharmacy, which he gave to Jannik’s physiotherapist to care for a cut on the physiotherapist’s finger. Jannik knew nothing of this, and his physiotherapist did not know that he was using a product containing clostebol.
“The physiotherapist treated Jannik without gloves and coupled with various skin lesions on Jannik’s body caused the inadvertent contamination.”
An independent panel held a hearing on 15 August and “determined a finding of No Fault or Negligence applied in the case, resulting in no period of ineligibility,” according to the ITIA.
Sinner added: “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.
“I have a team around me that are meticulous in their own compliance.”
Sinner won the Cincinnati Open on Monday and will be among the favourites at the US Open, which starts in New York next week. He reached the top of the rankings in the ATP rankings in June and is among the top stars of the new generation in men’s tennis, along with Carlos Alcaraz.
He won the Australian Open in January for his first grand slam title. He reached the semi-finals at the French Open in June and the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in July, before sitting out the Paris Olympics, as he was suffering from tonsilitis.
Additional reporting by AP