Jannik Sinner has yet again found himself in hot waters surrounding the doping saga. Everything looked well-settled in this case and his fans were busy celebrating his emphatic triumph at the US Open. However, the celebrations didn’t last long! The WADA has recently announced that it has officially appealed the decision that found the Italian tennis player was not at fault after testing positive for a banned substance.

They are now also seeking a two-year ban for the world number one. We saw several tennis experts including, Brad Gilbert, Mark Petchey, and a few others show support for Sinner on WADA’s recent appeal. Now, tennis legend Martina Navratilova also joined this list!

“It is WADA’s view that the finding of ‘no fault or negligence’ was not correct under the applicable rules,” according to WADA’s recent statement. After hearing their appeal to CAS on Jannik Sinner’s verdict, Coco Gauff’s former coach, Brad Gilbert wrote, “I am completely disheveled by this Wada decision, was 8000 times smaller then a gram of salt this now will unfortunately take months to figure out, where is the players representation on this, other then Sin City paying for his own lawyers.” Even former British player, Mark Petchey, showed his support for Jannik Sinner through a tweet.

He wrote, “Just for the record there is ZERO scandal in the Sinner case. He and his lawyers worked within the framework of what the rules are in the situation he found himself and got a decision based on the evidence presented. No conspiracy, no cover-up.” Petchey further added, “WADA today have looked at it and decided that they want to appeal the decision based on the “no fault or negligence” was not correct under the applicable rules. This is how the law works every single day.” After hearing all sides of the story,, Martina Navratilova also offered her thoughts, stating, “This is n-ts. WADA is a mess. The Chinese swimmers walk and now this? What a bad system we have …“

Navratilova was perhaps hinting about a previous report published by the New York Times on two Chinese swimmers who previously tested positive for an anabolic steroid but still were allowed to compete without any sanctions after Chinese anti-doping authorities cleared them. Tennis experts aren’t too pleased with the way things are being handled in Jannik Sinner’s case. Even former doubles world number one, Paul McNamee expressed his astonishment at WADA’s decision on Sinner’s case. He said that’s a “very big call” and also revealed that he wasn’t expecting this coming up from WADA. What did Jannik Sinner say about WADA’s appeal, though?

Jannik Sinner expressed his disappointment after knowing about WADA’s appeal to CAS

On-court, this has been one of the best years in Jannik Sinner’s career. Winning two Grand Slam titles in a single season is definitely not a matter of joke. Both Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz literally ruled the tennis world this season, clinching two Grand Slam titles each. However, off-the-court Sinner has to weather quite a few storms surrounding this doping saga. So, it has been a mix of good and bad for him this season!

Speaking about WADA’s appeal against the decision by an independent tribunal which cleared him of all wrongdoing, Sinner said, “I am disappointed to hear that WADA has chosen to appeal the result of my ITIA hearing after the independent judges had exonerated me and deemed me to be innocent. Over the past few months and throughout this process, there have been three separate hearings in each case confirming my innocence.” He thinks WADA is dragging out this matter unnecessarily. However, he has assured his full cooperation with the appeal process and also stated that he’ll provide whatever is needed to prove his innocence in this case once again.

Interestingly, even his rival, Carlos Alcaraz, also shared a few words on this issue recently. The Spaniard was spotted defending his rival during a press conference. Alcaraz said, “I know that is a really difficult point. Is difficult for him. I know everyone talking about it, the news, talking about it. Probably, as he said before New York, the people started to look at him in a different way. I don’t know how it can be. But for sure I understand the position. I feel him.“

He mentioned that all he wants now is to end this matter as soon as possible so that Jannik Sinner gets the chance to put all his focus on the game yet again. We’ve seen multiple reactions coming from the tennis world on this issue, but what are your thoughts on WADA’s recent appeal on Jannik Sinner’s doping saga?