“He managed to find an explanation within 15 days after testing positive” : Casper Ruud defends Jannik Sinner as the tennis world divides on the Italian’s doping case
The world no.1 has been on the end of countless criticism for a few months now, in regards to him testing positive on certain doping tests. While Jannik Sinner eliminated the noises around him and won the US Open, his second Grand Slam title, he is not out of the woods yet as many renowned tennis players past and present, have reflected their take on this matter.
Nick Kyrgios, Denis Shapovalov, Simona Halep amongst other have criticised the decision made by ITIA, as they believe the Italian was given ‘special treatment’ due to his rank and stature as he is one of the frontrunners for leading the next generation of tennis, and that more serious measures should have been taken.
“Ridiculous—whether it was accidental or planned, you get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance… you should be gone for 2 years. Your performance was enhanced. Massage cream…. Yeah, nice,” Kyrgios recently stated.
Meanwhile, world no.9 Casper Ruud has a completely different opinion than the Australian tennis star, and gave Sinner the benefit of doubt. The Norwegian did feel initially that there could have been some bias due to the Italian’s rank, but after getting caught on the rules and protocols he came to a different conclusion. He also felt not all athletes could have come up with an explanation in a span of just two weeks.
“If you have read the documents and understand the process in this type of case, then you understand that there is no discrimination here. What Sinner has done well, to defend himself, is that he managed to find an explanation within 15 days after testing positive. He understood quite quickly where it came from,” said the 25-year-old.
What do the ‘Big 3’ think about this peculiar case surrounding Jannik Sinner?
As far as tennis news is concerned, nothing makes headlines faster than when the ‘Big 3’ are involved. While Rafael Nadal believed in Jannik Sinner and had no doubt in his intentions, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic raised a few questions on the inconsistency of these protocols which lead to players getting frustrated.
“I have an advantage or a flaw, which is to believe in the good faith of people. I know Sinner and I don’t think he wanted to do drugs,” The Spaniard trusts the verdict of the judge in this case and believes that if Sinner was indeed guilty, he would already have been facing the consequences (via El Horminguero).
“I understand the frustration of, ‘Has he been treated the same as others?’ And I think this is where it comes down to. I think we all trust pretty much that Jannik didn’t do anything, but the inconsistency potentially that he didn’t have to sit out while they weren’t 100 percent sure what was going on, I think that’s the question here that needs to be answered,” Roger Federer did not blame the Italian at fault, and instead questioned the whole system.
“We see a lack of standardized and clear protocols…It is very difficult to speak about it. He tested positive but there have been some reasons that we don’t know that allowed him to play.” the 37-year-old was also confused about the unclear protocols which led Jannik Sinner to not receive any penalty.
While the Italian’s US Open victory has certainly helped this matter to go under the radar, there will always be a sort of ‘sour taste’ involved whenever he thinks about this time in the future, due to his reputation being harmed in the process as well.
