“WADA is seeking a period of ineligibility of between one and two years,” announced the WADA on September 28th regarding the doping case of Jannik Sinner. The Italian, who tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug Clostebol twice in March during his Indian Wells campaign, silently fought his trial for nearly five months, after which an independent tribunal concluded he had “no fault or negligence” in the matter. All seemed well for over a month as he moved past the incident, focused on his tennis, and even won the US Open trophy. However, as the case reopens, the tennis world is abuzz with speculation. Now, a former WTA pro, Marion Bartoli, has weighed in on the “complicacy” of the situation.

Jannik Sinner was busy fighting off his second-round opponent in the China Open in a match he eventually won. During the same time, WADA announced that it had “lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS)” as they found the initial results by ITIA to be “incorrect,” refraining from commenting further on the matter. Naturally, the tennis world turned its attention back to Sinner, who avoided a ban and was only fined (which included his Indian Wells prize money and the ranking points he earned there) after successfully winning the doping trial in August.

However, as the matter resurfaces, the former Wimbledon champion Bartoli, who has interviewed the World No. 1 multiple times during his US Open campaign, revealed her straightforward opinion on the case, questioning the validity of the results. “What is very complicated in this file, it’s that what was declared by the’ITIA, these are such tiny quantities that we find the file quite ridiculous. If the Global Agency decides to appeal, it means they are not in accord with the result of the tests…as they are two different agencies, it means that very certainly the AMA will ask to redo itself the tests. So we will have to wait for its own results,” she said in a statement reported by We Love Tennis. 

In his own statement, the 23-year-old admitted that the amount of the drug detected in his system was less than a billionth of a gram (760 picograms per milliliter in the first sample and 86 picograms per milliliter in the second sample). Moreover, according to Sinner, this occurred due to contamination from his ex-physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi, who applied medicine to his own wound containing the drug and later massaged Sinner without wearing gloves. However, Sinner now finds himself at a crossroads, and he candidly reflects on the situation.

Jannik Sinner expresses his “disappointment” and “surprise” at the reopening of his doping case.

By the time Jannik Sinner won the US Open title, he was acquitted of any blame regarding his doping saga. However, he admitted that it still lingered in his mind while he played his matches. After the announcement of the doping incident on August 20, Sinner confessed that he wanted to move past the “challenging” phase of his life. However, it seems that it’s far from over as of now. After winning his round of 16 match against Roman Safiullin in the China Open, Jannik Sinner once again opened up about the reopening of the case.

“Of course I’m very disappointed and also surprised about this appeal, to be honest, because we had three hearings. All three hearings were very positive for me. I didn’t expect that. I knew for a couple of days that they were going to appeal and that today it would become official. Maybe they just want to make sure that everything is in the right place.”

Now, with the matter pending before CAS, the tennis world will have to wait for further information while Sinner continues to play in Beijing and will soon face Jiri Lehecka in the next round. Moreover, as Bartoli indicated, a need for more clarity on the subject will help resolve all doubts regarding the matter.