"The professionalism is not good": Mats Wilander criticises ITIA's role in Jannik Sinner doping controversy

Former world number one Mats Wilander believes that the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) might have intentionally kept Italy’s Jannik Sinner’s doping case private because of hit top spot in the ATP rankings. The 23-year-old is already regarded as one of the best players currently playing men’s tennis alongside Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.

Sinner has been in the news lately for all wrong reasons as he narrowly escaped a ban despite testing positive for a banned substance two times in doping tests. The ITIA, in a statement which was announced recently, made it clear that the reigning number one player in the men’s singles category will not be banned as his justification has been approved where it was clear that he did not take anything intentionally or unintentionally to enhance his performance.

Former world number one Wilander was recently quoted in a report in which he showed sympathy towards Sinner but was very critical of ITIA. The 60-year-old, however, was very critical of ITIA and suggested that, in his opinion, the organisation decided to keep the news private because of Sinner’s top ranking in the ATP rankings.

“We're so glad to have Jannik Sinner still playing on tour,” he said. “He's a great guy. He's really, really good for the game. The rivalry with him and Carlos Alcaraz is epic already. And I'm convinced, 100%, that this was a complete accident by Jannik and his team. But if you can be that good at testing, surely you have to be that good when it comes to the process, because not only would you destroy a player's career, but you could destroy the country in terms of bringing up tennis players. The professionalism is not good in terms of the doping organizations. They have to get it right. And it's unfair. And obviously, it's nothing to do with Jannik, but it's unfair to all the other players that have got caught and then have been cleared."