“Suspension may be coming”: Former doubles legendary player casts doubt about Jannik Sinner’s future ahead of Australian Open

Multiple doubles Grand Slam winner Mark Woodforde believes that Italy’s Jannik Sinner is in line to receive a ban for failing doping tests. The 23-year-old is already regarded as the world’s best player in men’s tennis in the singles category.

He ended up winning two out of four Grand Slams and finished the season on a high after winning the ATP Finals in Turin. However, his year was marred by controversy after he failed two doping tests in March for banned substance Clostebol. Despite that, interestingly, Sinner managed to escape any ban as the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted the player’s counsel’s response where they claimed that the availability of the banned substance in the player’s sample was because of receiving cream for the treatment of an injury from one member of the coaching staff.

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The verdict, however, has been challenged by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and demanded a two-year ban for the reigning world number one in men’s tennis. Former doubles legendary player Woodforde, who won 12 doubles and five mixed doubles Grand Slams in his illustrious career, has been recently quoted in a report by Tennis 365, cast doubts about the future of Sinner and believes that it will be fascinating to see how the two-time Grand Slam winner will perform, knowing fully well that a ‘suspension may be coming’.

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“He did remarkably well last season, but it is not going to get any easier for him now with the appeal process coming up,” said Woodforde to Tennis365.

“There is already a lot of talk about what happens next in this story, but there is a possibility that some kind of suspension may be coming. He has already gone through one step of the process and has been able to compartmentalise these issues that have been happening off the court and to just keep his head down.

"He struggled in the early rounds of the US Open, I felt, and it was fortunate that he was up against guys in the early rounds who didn’t have the belief they could beat him. Once he got settled into the tournament, he was looking good all the way and that’s how he would like to approach it again this year. Being the defending champion adds another pressure for the young man so it will be fascinating to see how he handles it.”

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