"I’m always rooting for him": Casper Ruud continues to support Jannik Sinner despite involvement in doping scandal

Norway’s Casper Ruud has once again come out in support of Italy’s Jannik Sinner after receiving criticism following his involvement in the doping scandal. The 23-year-old, who is widely regarded as one of the best players currently playing in men’s tennis, has been under severe criticism for his involvement in the doping scandal.

Sinner tested positive for the banned substance clostebol in two doping tests in March last year but 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 one member of the coaching staff had received a cream for the treatment of an injury.

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 on Saturday last week as WADA announced that they had reached an agreement with Sinner, which will result in the player remaining out of action for three months.

Ruud has been recently quoted in a report by Tennis 365 where he once again defended Sinner and stated that it is sad to see the reigning world number staying out of action despite not doing wrong. The three-time Grand Slam runner-up also expressed optimism that Sinner will keep his head held high despite going through a tough phase.

“I feel sorry for Jannik. He’s, in my opinion, not done anything intentionally,” said Ruud. “And, you know, it is not the first time it has happened—but it doesn’t happen often—settlements in a doping sentence, which was probably surprising for a few people. When you look at the [legal system], it’s not unusual that it happens when someone is about to go to trial. I mean, there’s many other cases where settlements happened just before a trial.So, my understanding, if I was in Jannik’s shoes, of course I would love to have the possibility to defend myself in an open trial, which I’m sure he was going for. But when you go trial, there is—if I try to put myself in his shoes—I mean, if you go to trial, there’s always a risk that you might be found guilty, if the juries or the judges see things in a different way.

He continued by saying: “I mean, look at how many cases in the world someone has gone to jail when he wasn’t guilty, or she wasn’t guilty. So, I mean, there’s always a risk that you might be found guilty even though you aren’t. So, a settlement of three months—or a suspension of three months—was something that both were happy to do. Still, I feel sorry for Jannik. He will be out, he will miss 4 out of 9 Masters 1000s for something he didn’t intentionally do. So I hope he keeps his head high. Me personally, I’m always rooting for him. I think it’s a joy to watch him play, and I hope the three months go by quickly for him. Yeah, It’s just sad for him, and tennis as a sport, when the world number one goes through something like this. And, yeah, I guess that’s kind of my thought about it at the moment, yeah.”