On Friday, the doping case involving Jannik Sinner witnessed a major development after Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed the dates for appeal hearing, behind closed doors, for April 16 and 17, 2025. Back in August, it was revealed that the World No.1 and two-time Grand Slam champion revealed he tested positive, twice, for anabolic steroid Clostebol in March 2024. The ITIA had initially cleared him of any wrongdoing. Simply because it found “no fault or negligence” on his part. But a month later, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed against this verdict. While Sinner awaits the final verdict, former American pros Shelby Rogers and Sam Querrey have backed him!

In an episode of the Tennis Channel Live podcast, dated January 11, Querrey and Rogers expressed their honest thoughts on the dates revealed for the hearing. According to them, they won’t necessarily bother Sinner too much as his heavy focus is giving his best in the Australian Open 2025, as of now, without making himself mentally affected.

“I don’t think it will affect him. You know, we saw this last year.” said Sam. “The news kind of broke before the US Open. And what did he do? He went out and won the US Open. So I think this is just an ongoing bit of a nuisance where everyone wants to find a result at some point, but I do not think it’s going to affect Jannik Sinner down in Melbourne,” he added.

Rogers agreed with Querrey and echoed similar thoughts. “Yeah, I think we’re just ready to get this behind everyone. I think he’s looking forward to this date. He’s got a lot of tennis to focus on, like Sam said,” she said. “It hasn’t seemed to affect him, which is absolutely incredible. I would be a complete basket case going through all of this. But again, they’ll review all of the details. We’ll see what comes of it,” she concluded.

It appears Sinner is fully concentrated on answering with his racket. It becomes evident from his indomitable run since last season. After winning the US Open in September, the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup for Italy in November, he will look to defend his Australian Open title this month. Meanwhile, former WTA icon and 18-time Major winner Martina Navratilova has slammed WADA for trying to ruin Sinner’s career.

Martina Navratilova criticizes WADA for jeopardizing Jannik Sinner’s professional run

After CAS’s confirmation of dates for hearing in Sinner’s case, journalist Jon Wertheim shared his reactions on X. Reflecting on the entire situation, he wrote, “Unfortunate timing… a 90-day ban would likely take him out of multiple Majors. Especially since WADA is not contesting the facts or intent, but rather the application of strict liability laws, one would expect a fairly quick decision….” Well, it didn’t take long for this post to grab Martina Navratilova’s attention.

Taking a direct dig at WADA, the tennis legend wrote, “WADA stinks. Been saying that for years.” Back in September, when WADA appealed against ITIA’s verdict to not ban him, she had strong words to share. “This is nuts. WADA is a mess,” she simply wrote on X. To prove her point, she even mentioned the 23 Chinese swimmers who weren’t stopped from participating in Tokyo Olympics, back in 2021, despite testing positive for trimetazidine (TMZ).

Not to mention she’s a huge admirer of the Italian’s continuous success achieved in the last season. When he ended 2024 with two Majors, the ATP Finals trophy, the Davis Cup title for Italy, and the No.1 ranking, she expressed her joy on social media. “What a year for Jannik Sinner- will be hard to equal  or top this, it’s a very high bar:),” wrote the WTA icon on X.

Her constant support for the Fox will surely uplift his spirits ahead of the hearing dates in April. As of now, he will try to stick to his only goal – defending the Australian Open title. Will he be able to do it? Well, we’ll get to know that in the next two weeks!