"Accidents happen": Rafael Nadal gives verdict about doping scandal involving Jannik Sinner

Former world number one Spain’s Rafael Nadal has opened up about the doping scandal involving the reigning world number one, Italy’s Jannik Sinner. The 23-year-old is going through a difficult phase in his career after testing positive for the banned substance clostebol in March last year.

However, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) declared the three-time Grand Slam winner innocent following a detailed hearing where his counsel claimed that the substance was available in the player’s sample because he came in close contact with his physio, Naldi, who used to spray for the treatment of a cut on his finger. His misery, however, continued as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decided to appeal the verdict. The case concluded after both Sinner and WADA agreed that the player would stay out of action for three months and would return to the court just before the start of the Rome Masters in May.

Ever since the agreement was announced, both Sinner and WADA have come under severe criticism, especially from players still competing at the highest level, who claim that the Italian tennis star has been given preferential treatment. Nadal, often regarded as the greatest player in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category of the Open era, having won as many as 22 Grand Slam titles, has recently been quoted in a report by Tennis 365, where he expressed his opinion on the whole scandal. The 38-year-old believed that the doping scandal involving the best player in the world was not ‘positive’ for sport. However, the former world number one stated that he ‘believes’ Sinner’s side of the story.

“In the end, if I’m not mistaken, he came out of the ruling as innocent,” said Nadal. “In this case, it’s not been positive for our sport, tennis. But these things happen sometimes, accidents happen, and that’s how I see this because I believe in Jannik. I’m convinced from what I know of Jannik that he never tried to cheat or get an advantage over the rest. I am sure that Jannik is an innocent and moral person. From the other side of things, I don’t want to put in doubt the ruling. There are protocols that we’ve all followed for our careers. In this case, the authorities have all of the information – all of it, not what we have, which can be limited and many times subjective. I believe in the ruling. Jannik has accepted these three months of sanction and so: case closed. After, if we don’t like how the protocols function, then evidently the people involved need to work to improve them. But for me, I don’t like to speak badly about our sport. At the end, those protocols are the protocols that we all accepted and signed onto.”