The key to consistency in the anti-doping process

By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Saturday, August 24, 2024
Photo: Julian Finney/Getty

NEW YORK –Taylor Fritz is in the opposite half of the US Open draw headed by Jannik the Sinner.

American no. 1 says he hopes Sinner’s doping case highlights the need for consistency in tennis’ anti-doping process.

Evert on doping: I think they protect the best players

World No. 1 Sinner twice tested positive for trace amounts of the banned steroid clostebol in March 2024.

Sinner successfully appealed the interim suspensions and was allowed to continue playing. An independent tribunal found the Italian superstar “not guilty” of failing doping tests, so he was not suspended.

Fritz said he believes in the process and outcome of the investigation and said the truth about how the Italian was contaminated is known only by Sinner and his team.

“Everybody will have their opinion, but it’s very irrelevant at the end of the day because the truth of the matter will always be between him and his team,” Fritz told the media in New York. pre-tournament presser on Friday. “You know, I believe that whoever it is, the entire investigative process was done properly.”

World No. 12 Fritz said a key concern is a level playing field for all players when it comes to suspensions while their cases are being investigated and adjudicated. Fritz also questioned the fairness of the game when some players have been suspended for missing doping tests, while Sinner actually failed two doping tests and was not suspended.

“I think the only thing I’m going to say is I think there’s a lot of people who get suspended and can’t play for a while because they’ve either missed their tests, like random testing, which, by the way, whatever that one might say. you, it’s not that hard to miss one or two tests,” Fritz said. “So people are prohibited from missing three of them. It’s kind of hard to lose a third. Maybe you should shut it down after taking two hits. But there are crazy situations where this happens.

“I think a lot of people get banned for unfortunate reasons. I think in this decision they found that it’s different and there’s no ban, and I believe he wasn’t guilty or did anything intentionally.

“I just think it should be consistent across the board with the bans and who gets banned, who doesn’t get banned, who gets suspended, who doesn’t get suspended.”

Australian Open champion Sinner and his team first learned he tested positive for the banned steroid Clostebol shortly after winning the Miami Open last March. Coach Darren Cahill traced the positive test to Sinner’s physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi, who the team claims inadvertently contaminated Sinner with a medication he used to treat a cut on his finger.

The medication, available across the circuit in Italy and other European countries, was given to Naldi by Sinner’s trainer Umberto Ferrara.

While some players have publicly supported Sinner, others have pointed out a double standard that he was able to continue competing while several other players, who also claimed to have been inadvertently contaminated, were not. Sinner said the fact that authorities accepted his explanation almost “immediately” was why his temporary suspension was so short.

“Sometimes I clearly know the frustration of other players,” Sinner said. “But maybe because they were suspended, they didn’t know exactly where it came from, or what substance, but the main reason is where it comes from and how it got into his system. We understood immediately and were aware of what happened.

“We went right away, and I got suspended for two, three days. I couldn’t practice and everything. But they accepted it very, very quickly, and that’s why.”