Unlike Jannik Sinner, another Italian player handed four-year ban after testing positive in dope test

Italy’s tennis star Jannik Sinner has been in the news recently, largely because of the wrong reasons. The 23-year-old is already regarded as one of the best men’s tennis players in the singles category, along with Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.

Sinner recently won the US Open for the first time in his career as he defeated America’s Taylor Fritz in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. However, the reigning world number one has been in the news recently because he managed to narrowly escape a ban after testing positive for the banned substance Clostebol.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), in a detailed statement, announced that they have accepted the player’s counsel’s response after failing two dope tests where they claimed that the availability of the banned substance in the player’s sample was because of receiving a cream that a member of his coaching staff provided. That decision received backlash from a part of the tennis community, including some current and former players who called for similar behaviour for all the players who are going through similar cases.

As per Italian media outlet ilgazzettino, another Italian player tested a similar substance last year but could not manage to avoid a ban. His name was Stefano Battaglino. After being tested for Clostebol, the 26-year-old was handed a four-year ban in 2023. Interestingly, the player’s counsel also explained that he tested positive after receiving the cream from a physiotherapist at an event in Morocco. However, his justification was rejected by the ITIA as his lawyer failed to present a professional who could support his version. The ITIA handed him a four-year ban in October 2023 and as per the latest report, it was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). As per the latest report, the CAS concluded that the player failed to establish that he received the cream because of a mistake.