World Anti-Doping Agency seeks up to two-year suspension for Jannik Sinner, ATP No. 1 tennis player

Just when the controversy seemed to be over, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) reopened the case of against tennis player Jannik Sinner, No. 1 in the ATP ranking.

WADA unveiled Saturday an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to review the decision to acquit the Italian for two positive tests for clostebol, a performance-enhancing anabolic steroid. The Montreal-based agency claims the result does not correspond to current rules, so it asked for a suspension of between one and two years.

After the controversy erupted last month, Sinner explained that it had been a mistake by his physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi, in giving him a wound-healing spray containing the substance. Both Naldi and fitness trainer Umberto Ferrara were removed from his team. The sports authorities believed his version of the story, disciplining him only the loss of some prizes and ATP points.

The ruling divided the tennis world. While players like Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz said they trusted the arbitrator, others like Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer sowed doubts about favorable treatment (in the punishment more than in the results) towards the ATP ranking leader. The most vocal critic has been Australian player Nick Kyrgios, who called the decision "ridiculous": "You get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance… you should be gone for 2 years."

Sinner surprised but confident

"Obviously I'm very disappointed and also surprised," Sinner told reporters after beating Russian player Roman Safiullin on Saturday. With that result he reached the quarterfinals of the Beijing tournament.

"We had three hearings, all three hearings came out very positively for me," defended the 23-year-old tennis player, who was "convinced" that he will be "found innocent" once again.

"Maybe they just want to make sure that everything is in the right position."