"It’s a weird situation": Alexander Zverev highlighted what he found 'strange' in WADA, Jannik Sinner agreement

World number two Germany’s Alexander Zverev has highlighted a strange thing that he noticed in the recent agreement between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and Italy’s Jannik Sinner. The 23-year-old, who is often regarded as the best player currently playing in men’s singles category.

Sinner tested positive for the banned substance clostebol in two doping tests in March last year but miraculously managed to escape any ban. 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.

Things turned ugly for the world number one in October last year when it was announced that 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 on Saturday as WADA announced that they had reached an agreement with Sinner, which will result in the player remaining out of action for three months.

Zverev has recently spoken about the controversy where he highlighted that he found it ‘strange’ that Sinner has not been declared guilty but yet he is forced to face three-month suspension. The world number two was of the opinion that there has to be clarity about the dealing of such issues as it only creates confusion.

“It’s a weird situation because it’s been obviously a very long process where first he is cleared, then obviously WADA wanted to have a second look at it and stuff like that,” he said. “To me, I think, you know, there’s two options. Either you’re at no fault and you should get no suspension at all. Because if you have no fault, then you have no fault. You shouldn’t get punished. But if you do have fault, then I think for taking steroids, three months is not a suspension. So for me, it’s either you have to decide was it his fault or was it not his fault. If it’s not his fault then he shouldn’t get a three-month suspension but if it is his fault then this is weird in a way. The whole process, the whole situation that has been there for the past year almost it’s been just strange”.