"I don’t think he should have been suspended": Former French Open winner calls Jannik Sinner punishment in doping case 'absurd'

Former doubles French Open champion Patrick McEnroe believes that Italy’s Jannik Sinner should not have been ‘suspended’. The 23-year-old, who is regarded as the best player currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category, is going through a tough time ever since he tested positive for banned substance clostebol in March last year.

Sinner managed to escape any ban as The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) declared him 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.

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The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed against the ITIA’s verdict in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and demanded a two-year ban for the three-time Grand Slam winner. However, the issue finally came to a conclusion as WADA announced that they had reached an agreement with Sinner, which will result in the player remaining out of action for three months. His ban will end just a few days before the start of the Rome Masters in May later this year.

Ever since the deal between WADA and Sinner was announced, the reigning world number one has come under severe criticism and was accused of getting favoured treatment from different bodies in the sport. However, 1989 French Open doubles winner McEnroe has been recently quoted in a report by Tennis.com, where he stated that in his opinion, the 2025 Australian Open winner should not have been suspended. The 58-year-old also stated that it was ‘absurd’ to claim that since other players were treated wrongly, Sinner should have been treated the same.

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“I don’t think he should have been suspended,” said McEnroe. “They went through the process exactly as it was meant to go. I’m not saying it isn’t possible that players have figured out how to beat the system. But if you go by what we know, and what the proper protocols were, he was innocent. The argument that other players were treated badly, and therefore we should treat him badly, is absurd.”

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