Despite Jannik Sinner settling his doping case with WADA outside the CAS, it looks like the controversy is far from over. The tennis world was left divided after the Italian star accepted a 3-month doping ban handed by WADA ahead of his hearing. Sinner’s settlement with WADA sparked controversy, with many questioning how he got just a three-month ban. Meanwhile, some tennis bigwigs, including Spanish legend Feliciano Lopez, defended him, arguing he was punished despite no fault of his own.

Lopez enjoyed a legendary career, winning 13 singles and doubles titles. Yesterday, a fan shared his views on Twitter about how there was a lack of camaraderie in Sinner’s case and very few came out to support him. The tweet grabbed Lopez’s attention and he reacted with a grim revelation.

The Spaniard wrote, “I couldn’t agree more, the lack of empathy given the circumstances to someone who proved himself innocent is beyond DISAPPOINTING. People comparing different cases-processes to justify their arguments when there is no one case same as another.. On the other hand it doesn’t surprise me at all .. just don’t expect anything from others!”

While Lopez came to the rescue of Jannik Sinner in this matter, many of his fellow players called out the unfair end to this case. Even the 24-time Grand Slam champion, Novak Djokovic criticized Sinner after he escaped with a 3-month ban. He said, “The majority of the players don’t feel it’s fair. The majority of the players feel there is favoritism happening. It appears that you can almost affect the outcome if you’re a top player, if you have access to the top lawyers, and whatnot.”

Interestingly, according to Sinner’s lawyer, the Italian star wasn’t ready to accept the 3-month ban at first. He spilled the details of how Sinner and WADA came to an agreement.

Jannik Sinner questioned his doping ban

Last year, the ITIA cleared Jannik Sinner of his doping charges after he provided a valid justification of how he came in contact with the banned substance Clostebol. His physio had applied a spray that contained the banned substance and thus, Sinner’s sample tested positive for it. However, WADA reopened the case and took it to the CAS, asking for a lengthy ban. However, the two eventually settled the case, with Sinner accepting a 3-month ban.

Talking about this episode, Sinner’s lawyer said, “When I was saying ‘Well, look, maybe we should settle for three months’, he was saying ‘Well, why would we do that if the first independent tribunal found it was no ban at all, why would I accept three months now?’ My advice was ‘One never knows what’s going to happen at a hearing, we know that Wada are pushing for a year, if we don’t accept their offer then they will go to court looking for a year and who knows what those three judges could do.'”

Sinner’s doping ban will last till May 4 and he will be cleared to play in the French Open. It’ll be interesting to see if he can continue his winning touch when he comes back from his doping ban.