"I don’t even want to think": Italy's Davis Cup hoping to see Jannik Sinner avoids disqualification in doping case

Italian Davis Cup captain Filippo Volandri has stated that it would be catastrophic if the reigning world number one Jannik Sinner be banned because of a doping scandal. The 23-year-old is already regarded as one of the best players currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category.

Sinner has recently finished a great season. The reigning world number one lifted two Grand Slams, the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup with the Italian side. While doing that, he became the only second player in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category in the Open era not to lose a single match in a season in straight sets.

However, Sinner will remember this season for some wrong news as well. He was tested positive in two doping tests earlier in March for banned substance clostebol. However, he narrowly managed to escape the ban as the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted the player’s counsel’s response where they claimed that the availability of the banned substance in the player’s sample was because of receiving cream to treat an injury from one member of the coaching staff. The scandal once again gathered attention after it was reported in September that the World Anti-Doping Agency has lodged an appeal against the verdict in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) where they demanded two years suspension for the reigning world number one.

Volandri, who was the captain of the Italian team in the recently concluded Davis Cup, which also featured Sinner and went on to lift the title, was recently quoted in a report stating that it would be catastrophic to see the reigning world number one receive a ban or the doping scandal. “I don’t even want to think about a possible disqualification of Sinner, given his honesty and the irrefutable evidence he has provided,” he said. “But if there is a person with broad shoulders it is Jannik. A disqualification would be the greatest injustice in history.”