Adrian Mannarino doubts innocence of Sinner and Swiatek in doping cases: “I don't believe in Santa Claus anymore”

Adrian Mannarino questioned the innocence of Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek regarding the doping controversy revealed in a recent interview. The world No. 66 said that both cases seemed surprising to him, considering they were the only positive cases in the elite of the Tour.

Sinner’s case was attributed to contamination from a painkiller with Clostebol, which his physiotherapist used for cuts on his fingers. When treating Sinner without gloves, the substance would have entered the Italian's system. On the other hand, Swiatek tested positive for Trimetazidine, which entered her body through contamination in melatonin she took for jet lag.

"I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt"

Both cases have been widely criticized in the tennis world, with voices from players like Nick Kyrgios, Denis Shapovalov, and Simona Halep. Sinner escaped without facing suspensions, while Swiatek accepted a one-month suspension, which she served – without the case being made public – by skipping the Asian Swing. After returning to the Tour, she had one week of suspension left, which she completed during the first week of the off-season.

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Both Sinner and Swiatek were declared innocent of any intentional wrongdoing; only the Polish player was suspended due to her fault for buying melatonin from an unapproved store by the ITIA. Amid the widespread discussions on the matter, Adrian Mannarino responded to an interview with RMC Sports, where he shared his opinion on the issue.

"I don't believe in Santa Claus anymore. If there are those who want to believe, they can believe but it's not really my type. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but it's still very surprising because this season there have been two positive tests out of the 300 best in the world, and they are the two number 1s in the world."

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“So I can also understand that someone could inadvertently take the wrong pill or the wrong vitamin, but it’s still all very surprising. I wake up every morning at 36 limping. Having to go on the court against 20-25-year-olds, if they’re not clean, becomes complicated. I hope for their sake that it’s like this,” he concluded.

Mannarino, 36 years old, will return to the courts in 2024 at the Nouméa Challenger, where he will be the first seed. The Frenchman decided to play a lower-level tournament instead of qualifying in Brisbane or Hong Kong. It will be his only preparatory tournament before traveling to Melbourne for the Australian Open, his 59th appearance in a Grand Slam main draw.