Rafael Nadal defends Jannik Sinner, anti-doping bodies after Italian’s positive tests

NEW YORK – Rafael Nadal has defended Jannik Sinner after the world No. 1 tested positive for a banned substance but avoided punishment, saying the Italian would never have considered doping and he was not judged differently just because he is the top-ranked player.

In March, Sinner tested positive for the steroid clostebol, which can be used to build muscle mass, but

was cleared by a tribunal

after they learnt that his physio applied a spray to a cut on his own wounded hand before carrying out treatments on the player.

The 23-year-old arrived at the US Open with some of his peers alleging double standards when he was cleared of wrongdoing, whereas others had been provisionally suspended for similar positive tests.

But Nadal said the anti-doping organisations must be trusted.

“I have a virtue or a deficit, which is that in the end I usually believe in people’s good faith. I know Sinner, I don’t believe that Sinner has ever wanted to dope,” he said.

“I don’t think we have to like it (the decision) only when it is resolved in the way we think. In the end, justice is justice and I believe in justice.

“I believe in the bodies that have to make decisions and that they really make them based on what they believe is right.”

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) cleared Sinner after he failed not one but two drug tests in March, but he has always maintained his innocence, saying the amount of clostebol found in his system was less than a billionth of a gram.

Novak Djokovic had called for “clear protocols” and “standardised” approaches to doping cases, while Nick Kyrgios said Sinner should have been banned no matter the manner of doping, whether it was “accidental or planned”.

However, Nadal said that the authorities had not given Sinner preferential treatment.

“I’m totally confident that if he has not been sanctioned, it is because those who have had to judge this case have seen very clearly that there were no sanctions to be imposed,” added the Spaniard, who skipped the US Open due to fitness concerns as he heads towards an impending retirement.

“I do not believe that because he is Sinner, he will not be sanctioned and because he is someone else, he will be sanctioned. I really believe it and I am convinced of it.

“Afterwards, the opinion of others is also totally respectable. But, well, this is my opinion.” REUTERS