Sinner’s lawyers claimed that because the player had “various skin lesions” on his body due to a skin condition called psoriasiform dermatitis, the spray – which contained clostebol – must have passed from the physio’s hands through to Sinner and caused the “inadvertent contamination”.
Sinner’s lawyers said that his fitness trainer purchased a spray “easily available over the counter in any Italian pharmacy” which was given to the player’s physiotherapist, Giocomo Naldi to help treat a minor cut on the physio’s finger.
Sinner submitted a urine sample showing traces of clostebol during the Indian Wells tournament in California in March; an out-of-competition sample eight days later also tested positive.
That evening, after beating German player Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets, Sinner submits two urine samples (primary and corroborative) at Indian Wells, which both test positive for clostebol.
Timeline: Sinner, the men’s No 1-ranked player, twice tested positive for the banned substance clostebol but successfully argued he had been inadvertently contaminated by his physiotherapist.
