World No. 1 Jannik Sinner has stressed that he has “nothing to hide” after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Saturday appealed a tribunal’s verdict that the Italian held “no fault or negligence” for failing two doping tests for the banned substance Clostebol earlier this year.
The WADA said that it has appealed Sinner’s case with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and is seeking a ban of “between one and two years” for the two-time major winner.
Sinner issued a statement expressing shock and disappointment at WADA’s verdict, vowing to fight for his innocence while cooperating with the investigation. The 23-year-old highlighted how he was cleared by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) and Italian anti-doping authority after months of investigations culminated in three senior judges scrutinizing his case via a formal hearing.
“I understand these things need to be thoroughly investigated to maintain the integrity of the sport we all love,” Sinner said. “However, it is difficult to see what will be gained by asking a different set of three judges to look at the same facts and documentation all over again. This being said, I have nothing to hide, and as I have done throughout the summer, I will cooperate fully with the appeal process and provide whatever may be needed to prove my innocence once again.”
Sinner added he will no longer comment about the doping case as his fate rests in the hands of the CAS.