Jannik Sinner has been forced to withdraw from next week’s Qatar Open after being banned from tennis for three months.
The Italian will be prohibited from featuring at any tournaments until May after reaching a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) following his two failed anti-doping tests last year.
Sinner has enjoyed an incredible rise to dominate his tennis rivals over the last 12 months and won the US Open in September after clinching his first Grand Slam at last year’s Australian Open.
And the 23-year-old was considered one of the favourites to win the Qatar Open after claiming victory at last month’s Australian Open.
Sinner had clearly been expecting to compete in Qatar as he had travelled to Doha ahead of the tournament.
There are even videos on social media that show him practising on a court as he hits a series of shots from the baseline. But he will now have to rearrange his plans as he takes an enforced break from the sport.
Sinner will be eligible to play in the remaining three Grand Slams of the year, however, as his ban will only run until May 4.
The French Open is due to get underway on May 19 with Wimbledon starting at the end of June before the US Open begins in late August.
Sinner first tested positive for the banned substance clostebol at last year’s Indian Wells, which took place in March.
He tested positive for a second time eight days later, but put the results down to contamination as he insisted his physiotherapist had used the substance on his own hand before applying treatment to him.
And on Saturday morning, WADA issued a statement that read: “WADA accepts the athlete’s explanation for the cause of the violation as outlined in the first instance decision.
“WADA accepts that Mr Sinner did not intend to cheat, and that his exposure to clostebol did not provide any performance-enhancing benefit and took place without his knowledge as the result of negligence of members of his entourage.
“However, under the Code and by virtue of CAS precedent, an athlete bears responsibility for the entourage’s negligence. Based on the unique set of facts of this case, a three-month suspension is deemed to be an appropriate outcome.”
Meanwhile, a statement from Sinner, which was issued by his lawyers, said: “This case had been hanging over me for nearly a year and the process still had a long time to run with a decision maybe only at the end of the year.
“I have always accepted that I am responsible for my team and realise WADA’s strict rules are an important protection for the sport I love. On that basis I have accepted WADA’s offer to resolve these proceedings on the basis of a three-month sanction.”
