Jannik Sinner: From tennis hero to doping zero?

Tennis commentator Jonathan Overend believes Italy’s Jannik Sinner’s on-court achievements will be tainted if he receives a ban for failing doping tests. The 23-year-old is already regarded as the world’s best player in men’s tennis in the singles category.

He ended up winning two out of four Grand Slams and finished the season on a high after winning the ATP Finals in Turin. Because of this, he finished the season as the world number one in men’s tennis in the singles category, that too by a lead of more than 3,000 rating points.

However, his year was marred by controversy after he failed two doping tests in March for the banned substance Clostebol. Despite that, interestingly, Sinner managed to escape any 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 for the treatment of an injury from one member of the coaching staff.

The verdict, however, has been challenged by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and demanded a two-year ban for the reigning world number one in men’s tennis. Sky Sports’ lead tennis commentator, Overend, has been recently quoted in a report where he talked about the scandal in detail. Overend was of the opinion that if Sinner receives a ban in front of the CAS, his achievements in 2020 will always be tainted.

“I think it really important to bring this up and to say that at times, it hasn’t felt totally comfortable watching Jannik Sinner achieve what he has done this year,” he said. “We have enjoyed the tennis, of course we have, but you look at all the achievements and you have to think to yourself… this is a guy who has failed two drug tests. In another world, in another sport, he may have been serving a ban so he would not have been able to win those trophies. It may be next year that he does have to serve a ban because WADA think he should be banned and it is in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Their final judgement will have to be respected. If he does get banned, it’s not a good look for tennis. How they respond to that, I’m not sure. Sinner will deal with it, serve his time if he has to, but it will taint his achievements for this year, there is no doubt about that.”