Tim Henman has criticised Jannik Sinner’s three-month ban from tennis as “too convenient” and believes it will leave fans of the sport with a “pretty sour taste”. Sinner has reached a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) over two positive drugs test in March last year. The world number one, who won the Australian Open last month, is suspended from February 9 until May 4, meaning he will be eligible to play in the year’s next Grand Slam, the French Open, which starts on May 19 at Roland Garros.
“First and foremost I don’t think in any way he has been trying to cheat at any stage, I don’t believe that,” four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Henman told Sky Sports News. “However, when I read this statement this morning it just seems a little bit too convenient. “Obviously having just won the Australian Open, to miss three months of the Tour and therefore to be eligible to play at Roland Garros, the timing couldn’t have been any better for Sinner, but I still think it leaves a pretty sour taste for the sport.
“When you’re dealing with drugs in sport it very much has to be black and white, it’s binary, it’s positive or negative, you’re banned or you’re not banned. “When you start reading words like settlement or agreement, it feels like there’s been a negotiation and I don’t think that will sit well with the player cohort and the fans of the sport.”. In a statement on Saturday, WADA, which had appealed against the decision to clear Sinner to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), said it accepted Sinner’s explanation that he was inadvertently contaminated with the banned substance clostebol by his physio.
WADA accepts that Sinner “did not intend to cheat, and that his exposure to clostebol did not provide any performance-enhancing benefit and took place without his knowledge as the result of negligence of members of his entourage”. The statement added: “However, under the code and by virtue of CAS precedent, an athlete bears responsibility for the entourage’s negligence. “Based on the unique set of facts of this case, a three-month suspension is deemed to be an appropriate outcome.”.
In September, Sinner said he was “very disappointed and also surprised” when WADA appealed against an independent tribunal’s ruling of “no fault or negligence” for his two positive tests. At the time, WADA sought to impose a ban of between one and two years. With almost a year passing between the time of Sinner’s positive tests and the announcement of his ban, Henman feels the process of dealing with such cases needs to be much faster.
“He tested positive in Indian Wells in March, a long time ago, and to have had this cloud over his head also emphasises how we need to get to these conclusions a lot quicker,” Henman said. “From Sinner’s point of view he will be very keen to serve his ban, draw a line in the sand and get ready for Roland Garros, which is such a big priority for him.”. Sinner’s was the first of two high-profile cases in tennis in quick succession, with women’s world number two Iga Swiatek handed a one-month suspension in November after a positive test for the angina medication trimetazidine.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted it was caused by contamination of a medicine Swiatek was taking to help combat jet lag. Swiatek was provisionally suspended from September 22 until October 4 but that was not made public, with the three tournaments she missed attributed to personal matters and a change of coach. The Pole then served an additional eight days to December 4 to make up the month and was informed last month that WADA would not appeal against the sanction.
