John McEnroe sees double standard in Jannik Sinner doping case, calls for 'uniform' approach to tennis testing

With the shocking news of Jannik Sinner's two positive tests, the tennis world has weighed in. Some have defended the World No.1, some have not and others see a need for answers of a different kind including John McEnroe.

Sinner tested positive twice for the substance Clostebol which was administered through his physio spraying his hand for a wound and then giving him a massage. He had less than a billionth of a gram in his system but any breach can be flagged up.

For McEnroe and others though, it is more that it was only found out about when he was cleared. He sees a double standard between that and the approach took to Simona Halep for instance. She took Roxudustat and had her career in limbo for 18 months and McEnroe said that it should be the same across the board instead of protecting big names in the case of Sinner and not others. Certainly food for thought.

“I understand tennis is tested virtually more than any other sport,” said McEnroe, speaking during an ESPN preview of the US Open.

“This news just came out. It is certainly surprising and shocking at this moment. Especially that it happened in March and six months have gone by and this is the first anyone has heard about it.

“I don’t know how they differentiate between one person saying he was unaware of it and someone else who says the same thing gets suspended.

“I think Halep said that and she was suspended for 18 months and Sinner said he unknowingly had this and then he’s not suspended.

“So clearly from the players’ standpoint, you want it to be sort of uniform. This is a guy at the moment ranked No 1 in the world. This is surprising news for all of us.”