Ever been caught in a storm you never saw coming, no matter how carefully you played the game? That’s exactly where Jannik Sinner finds himself right now. The three-time Grand Slam champion is at the center of a doping scandal and now has to serve a three-month ban despite no intentional wrongdoing. As the tennis world erupts in debate, lines are drawn between those standing by him and those demanding accountability. Just when things couldn’t get more intense, WADA’s General Counsel Ross Wenzel weighed in; only for a former world No. 1 to step in with an even fiercer response. Her verdict? Brutally honest and impossible to ignore!

So the story unfolded last Saturday when the No. 1 ranked player in men’s tennis, Jannik Sinner, received an immediate ‘three-month’ ban from WADA after settling his case over two positive drug tests last year. An independent panel previously cleared of any wrongdoing after the 23-year-old tested positive for the banned substance Clostebol at Indian Wells in March 2024.

However, WADA appealed against the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and sought a ban of up to two years for Sinner. But then abruptly, a settlement was reached upon their acknowledgment of the Italian’s unintentional contamination and lack of intent to deceive. As it caused a major uproar in the tennis community, WADA’s General Counsel Ross Wenzel offered his perspective. And, right after that, a former 18-time Grand Slam winner, Martina Navratilova, shared her brutal opinion as well. 

In a recently conducted interview with BBC, Ross said, “This was a case that was a million miles away from doping. The scientific feedback that we received was that this could not be a case of intentional doping, including micro-dosing. Wada has received messages from those who consider that the sanction was too high and, in some respects, if you have some saying this is unfair on the athlete, and others saying it’s not enough, maybe it’s an indication that although it’s not going to be popular with everyone, maybe it’s an indication that it was in the right place. It must come into effect quickly. Of course, once the deal is done, it’s important that it is executed and that it is made public for reasons of transparency.”

He continued, “So it happened, because of the timing of the CAS proceedings, it happened to be decided last Friday, it was a very late night, and it came into effect immediately, so that is the reason for the timing.” And right after the interview went public, the former number 1 Navratilova responded, “I think this still stinks. We are trying to keep out dopers… and Jannik Sinner is not that…this 3-month suspension doesn’t help anyone. At least Jannik will be done with this and will have a forced vacation instead. Tennis loses in every way.”

Even Sinner‘s long-standing critic, Nick Kyrgios, offered his assessment following the ruling. “So WADA come out and say it would be a 1-2 year ban. Obviously, Sinner’s team has done everything in their power to just go ahead and take a three-month ban, no titles lost, and no prize money lost. Guilty or not? Sad day for tennis. Fairness in tennis does not exist,” Kyrgios wrote on X.

As for Navratilova, this was not the first time when the WTA legend criticized the WADA’s approach.

“The whole system needs to be blown up” —Martina Navratilova sharing her thoughts on the doping

Martina Navratilova had voiced her thoughts long before the outcome came on Saturday. Just before the Australian Open last month, the former No. 1 shared her opinion on WADA as she pressed for the system to go through a complete overhaul. In an episode of the TC live podcast, Martina said, “I’ll be very diplomatic here and say that it all stinks. The whole system needs to be blown up and started over again. There is so much scrutiny over WADA right now with what they did with Chinese swimmers and Swiatek, the no. 1s, for sure they were not doping.”

She continued, “I mean, we’re trying to catch cheaters and not people that have their massage creams on their body or took a sleeping pill that they’ve been taking for five years, and now it’s tainted.”

Navratilova found it hard to understand that once the case had concluded with the ITIA’s independent panel giving Sinner a clean chit and the player thought he could move on, WADA went on and appealed. “I mean you’re guilty until proven innocent in this and for Sinner, he thought he was done with it and now what is appealing? Why I mean, I just don’t get it. There has to be a lot of light shone onto this,” she added.

What is your take on this overall scenario? Share your thoughts below!