Jannik Sinner, case closed (like it or not)

ATP 
Jannik Sinner, case closed (like it or not)

Jannik Sinner x WADA, deal with it. So the wait is finally over, and we won’t have to wait until spring to find out Jannik Sinner’s fate. It also means we won’t have to go through months of “all the takes” until the CAS hearing. Call me selfish, but I’m quite fine with it. Even more because, contrary to the weird belief that ran through parts of the tennis world, I never doubted that if Sinner were to get banned, it’d be for months and not years. It seems, from all the takes I’ve been reading since the announcement of the deal the Italian made with WADA to accept a 3-month ban and be done with it all, that people have forgotten an essential point: Jannik Sinner was fighting a contamination case. A contamination case. WADA, in its appeal, said right away they weren’t contesting it was a contamination case, which, if you ask me, was the basis for wondering why they’d even go through that appeal at all. We weren’t talking about a high-profile player being caught with EPO in his blood. But with a high-profile player with all the top lawyers money can buy fighting a contamination case.

Sinner was never going to be banned for 2 years, people…

In which world anyone thought it’d end with the World No.1 banned for 1 to 2 years is beyond my understanding. Surely, someone at WADA quickly understood they were now running a real risk of being dragged through the mud and a potentially damaging loss in the spring. Had Sinner won in front of the CAS, it’d have meant that any player testing positive could have hoped to walk away by saying it wasn’t their fault but their entourage’s fault. A valid argument for all we know in Sinner’s case but an absolute Pandora’s box. Surely, WADA appealed to avoid that, but maybe along the way, they realized that they should have left it contained to tennis and the ITIA instead of risking their entire jurisprudence. Sinner’s lawyers clearly got some convincing message and cut that deal. Well that’s why very rich people don’t hesitate to pay top money for top lawyers. Again, where is the surprise? Every player with pockets as deep as Sinner’s would have done the same.

WADA seems to base its ability to cut that deal with Sinner on Article 10.8.2, the Case Resolution Agreement that refers to Articles 10.1 - 10.7, and a specific rule for flexible sanction in contaminated supplement cases. It doesn’t look like it fits Sinner’s case 100%, but it’s loose enough to get the case in. WADA told The Athletic it wasn’t a rare thing to happen at all. So, you know what? It happened. WADA left a case that started stinking and saved its regulation system. Sinner gets done with the whole thing without losing any Grand Slam event this year, without dragging his reputation on the line (and so his sponsors’ deals) until spring, and without playing with that longer ban risk. He gets 3 months at the moment of the season when it’s the least damaging for him. I’d say it’s a win.

Sinner not totally out of the woods, actually

Now, let’s look at a couple of things that could still cause some damage to Jannik Sinner. First of all, three months without competing isn’t a walk in the park for an athlete's body, especially as he’ll have to get back on clay, which isn’t the easiest for him, before going straight to grass. Also, players’ reactions have been pretty strong against him since the announcement, with a few exceptions, which means he might find himself very alone at the top for a while and might still have to justify himself for a while. And, more importantly, in my opinion, it’s a sign that most of the players don’t fear him at all off the court. The social media carnage from the locker room right now shows that Sinner’s leverage off the court is non-existent. Imagine Nadal or Federer in the same case, and I’m sure you wouldn’t have heard 10% of what we’re currently witnessing. Oh, they would have been thinking the same things but would have never put it out there. Sinner doesn’t own the lockers yet, and for a World No.1 with on and off-court ambitions, it’s a problem that must be solved.

Sinner isn’t built to walk around being The Villain. Even if he’s been dealing with the whole thing in a kind of insane calm, I’m not sure it’ll last if he starts losing some big matches here and there. The only reason he might have for now survived the whole thing is because he kept winning. I wonder how his team will work on that image issue now. Again, it’s a contamination case, so it’s making it way easier to deal with, but I’ve been surprised at how quickly the sport lashed on him, so… Maybe they don’t believe in the contamination explanation, which is entirely another story. Maybe if Sinner had won less, the reactions would have been less violent. Who knows.

A bad deal for the sport?

Finally, is the settlement of the Sinner’s case bad for tennis? Fair question. Let’s take a step back: a player testing positive for a contamination he couldn’t do a lot about got banned for it nonetheless. One would say, the system worked in the end, no? Now, a player with less money to spend on lawyers wouldn’t have been able to avoid a long provisional suspension or a risky hearing by the CAS. Obviously. But again, what else is new? Like, great lawyers are good to have… What is the sport supposed to do about that? I’m not sure…

I don’t believe that we should stop banning players for what would look like contaminations and suddenly decide that depending on the levels found in the system, it should lead to a negative test. Because, please, 1) don’t take us for fools: who’s to say what’s been found isn’t just what was left from a whole cycle of I don’t know what? 2) Players being responsible for what gets into their bodies is the biggest tool to fight doping efficiently. They need to know there will be no walking away by throwing a team member under the bus.

Those who are mad at Sinner are often saying, ‘Oh, but look what happened to Halep.’ First, this sport has too much love for comparing apples and oranges, and I’m sure very few people being mad right now have even read the reports. Also, are you saying that because Simona Halep’s case was maybe badly dealt with (which I honestly don’t know), Sinner should have been dealt the same bad cards? Why would we insist that the Italian gets a potentially career-damaging ban for contamination? That is what makes no sense to me. Unless, again, these people don’t believe in Sinner’s explanations and feel a cheater got away because he had enough money to game the system.

What is bad for tennis is honestly WADA coming into this to lodge an appeal they clearly didn’t weigh long enough, and so dragging the case for more months before coming to terms with the fact that they were running a high risk of losing a super high-profile case. A case they said right away was a contamination case for them. They made the ITIA decision look good, actually. They showed again that sports anti-doping couldn’t work together. They put the doubt on the whole process, and now tennis and Sinner will have to live with it. So thank you for nothing, WADA, really. It would anyway be very nice for tennis if we could now avoid having the faces of the sport dragged through positive drug tests and bans. Because the suspense of disbelief has its limits. No more buying over-the-counter stuff and no more getting gloves-less massages or whatever could come next.

Nobody wins, indeed, when an athlete walks away after cheating the system with barely a slap on the hand. I just don’t think that it was what we were dealing with here with Jannik Sinner. The future could prove me wrong, obviously, but in the meantime, I’m ready to move on from that damn case…until May.

QUESTION OF THE DAY 
So what do you make of that Sinner and WADA deal?

You were 66,67% to think that tennis coaches were undervalued.

BUSINESS / MEDIA 
The WTA gets some serious $$$ wins

• These rights are sold. WTA Ventures, the commercial arm of the WTA, announced it secured a deal for the rights of the Chinese events: Tencent is buying them all for 2025. “The agreement means that Tencent’s digital platforms will offer coverage from every tournament on the Hologic WTA Tour through to the season-ending WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF in November, including all WTA 250s, 500s and 1000s, except events played in Chinese mainland. (…) Matches from the 2025 Hologic WTA Tour season will be available for streaming on all Tencent digital platforms, including Tencent Video, Tencent Sports, Tencent News, and WeChat. The deal covers both live and delayed matches, as well as match clips, for audiences in China (excluding Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Chinese Taipei),” a statement says. I’m wondering if Qinwen Zheng should get a cut of that deal!

• The record is broken, thanks to the 1,1 billion cumulative global audience from the WTA Tour. The 1 billion mark had been passed for the first time in 2023. Two-thirds of the global audience aged are under 45. “The first edition of the WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF attracted the biggest audience of any year-end finals in WTA history, with a global audience of 78 million, up 160% against the audience for the previous year’s event. The surge in viewing reflects the positive impact of the return of WTA coverage to audiences in China, including through a one-year deal for live coverage of the tournament on China’s leading sports broadcaster, CCTV-5, and other services operated by China Media Group. Even when China is excluded from the audience figures, viewing of the WTA Finals across the rest of the world jumped by a substantial 23%, including strong increases in Italy, Spain, and Latin America,” adds a statement.
  

• Can you see it now? Someone on the ATP Tour right now. Why? Because the Tour has secured a new Official Eyewear Partner through 2027. Who? Polaroid Eyewear. One player has already been announced has a brand ambassador for 2025: the Italian Lorenzo Musetti. “The partnership will see the brand activate at the Mutua Madrid Open, the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, and the Swedish Open, unlocking exclusive experiences for fans. Benefits include prominent brand visibility, dedicated activation space in Fan Zones and a notable presence at kids’ activities on-site. ATP Chair Umpires will also style Polaroid eyewear on court. In addition, Polaroid will reach the global tennis community through year-round exposure on ATP Tour’s social and digital channels,” announced the ATP.

MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The GOOD: Belinda Bencic. It took the Swiss only four months after her return from maternity leave to clinch a first title. Bencic claimed the trophy in Abu Dhabi and it actually feels logical as she’s been playing already very well since basically the moment she came back on Tour. She was already in the second week at the Australian Open, let’s not forget. It’s the first time since Elina Svitolina in Strasbourg in 2023 that a mother has won a title on the WTA Tour. Ranked No. 157 when she won, Bencic was the third-lowest-ranked player to win a WTA 500 title since the tournament tier was created. Only Alexandra Dulgheru (Warsaw 2009, ranked No. 201) and Serena Williams (Stanford 2011, ranked No. 169) are lower-ranked WTA 500 titlists.

There are no expectations to impose on any female player coming back from a pregnancy, there’s no blueprint, there’s no failure. And every body is different. Bencic winning yet proves again it can be done, especially for top players whose skills and margin on the rest of the field don’t disappear with the baby.

The BAD (who might turn into The Ugly): Stefano Vukov. Tennis is again left to wonder how many times female players are going to have to deal with an abusive entourage. And how many times will it prove very difficult to get rid of them? The Elena Rybakina situation has been problematic and in the spotlight for months. And not only because her coach Stefano Vukov has now been suspended and exposed for abusive behavior but also because it seems the WTA is trying to help Rybakina against her own will. The Atlantic has a report on the accusations of mental abuse leading to physical distress that has led the WTA to suspend Vukov.

Obviously, it’s unfortunately nothing new, and anyone can go and educate themselves about the hold this type of people can get on their targets. However, it means that the WTA has to go through a process of evicting one of their biggest players’ coaches with zero public support from the player. They also have to deal with a player who refuses to stop working with the coach and has arranged to keep him around off-sites. One has to wonder if, at some point, Rybakina isn’t going to get banned like her coach. Because this is a battle the WTA cannot lose unless they want to send a message we’ve seen too much in the past: sorry, can’t do anything. And so problematic coaches keep getting hired by unsuspecting players.

As often, Coco Gauff made a lot of sense when asked about it in Dubai: "From my understanding, I know she doesn't like the decision. I know WTA also has the right to protect her. Overall, I think it's nice that the WTA is making sure that they're out there to protect players," Coco Gauff said. "I definitely think that that's important in our sport because a lot of times if you look, sometimes victims don't even know they are a victim. In this sport it's happened so many times. A lot of times you see former players speaking out years after their career ended how they were treated," she added.”

It’s bigger than Rybakina; it’s for every other player who will need a WTA Tour with leverage to respond to their call for help or for everyone who will sound the alarm on a case like that next time. Get toxicity out of women’s tennis now. It’s been hanging around for too long. And no, female players don’t need to be talked to like sh.t to perform, just saying for the people in the back seeing no issue with the whole thing.

The UGLY: Lucas Pouille’s Achille. Professional sports ain’t fair, we all know that. But sometimes, it can really be especially cruel. Right when the French player was building his ranking back up, returning to the Top 100 after reaching four Finals (1 title) in Challngers, and this after already battling injuries régularly for years now, he tore his Achilles (right foot) after one set in Lille’s Challenger final. It’s a hell of an injury, and even more at 30. Pouille got surgery the day before, as one needs to get right in to have the best chance of recovery. All went well, and he now hopes to be back on Tour in 2026. The moment he got injured, he thought his career was over and told the crowd he might have played the last match of his career. But nowadays, with the progress made on the medical side, Pouille thinks there’s still a chance for him to return. One more time.

SOME BREAK POINTS… 
It comes and goes…

IN:

• Joao Fonseca claimed his spot in the title-winners circle. The 18-year-old got his hands on his first trophy on the clay of Buenos Aires on Sunday, and he became the youngest player to win in South America since 1990. Fonseca is the 10th youngest winner in ATP Tour history.

• In the team of players who needed a confidence boost for different reasons: Carlos Alcaraz won in Rotterdam, and Denis Shapovalov clinched the title in Dallas. In Delray Beach, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina had a 5-2 lead and two match points in the third set, but it’s still Miomir Kecmanovic who clinched the title.

• In Doha, Amanda Anisimova won the first WTA 1000 of her career and signaled to the Tour that she was back in business, which is very good news for tennis. A special shout out to Jelena Ostapenko, beaten in the final, who had quite the week with wins over Jasmine Paolini, Ons Jabeur, and Iga Swiatek again (5-0). Special mentions for Marta Kostyuk, who reached the quarters with a win on the way against Coco Gauff, and to Ekaterina Alexandrova, who won the title in Linz and then reached the semi-finals in Doha with a win over Aryna Sabalenka on the way.

• Raemon Sluiter has finally returned on the Tour after parting ways with Elina Svitolina. He’s now working with Maria Sakkari. I remain baffled that no top player ran to him the moment he was free. The state of the coaching on the WTA Tour has been very intriguing lately.

• It was announced last year and it’s confirmed: The ATP will use electric line calling on clay this year.

OUT:

• Simona Help retired from the game at home in Romania for the tournament in Cluj.

• Mixed double’s traditional format has been axed at the US Open. Grand Slam events are coming back to their bad habits of not caring about having the same rules. What now? Mixed double. The USO is basically turning the tournament into an exhibition, not hiding how they do not care about doubles specialists. And singles players aren’t coming to the rescue of their peers, more the opposite as they’re no doubt being lured by some bonus money. If anyone still wonders why there’s never been a collective action from professional tennis players in eons, here’s another example of why.

  
  Why would some singles players care about leaving a tiny bit of the pie so some doubles colleagues could keep making a living? One would think they wouldn’t care, right? Well, as it comes as no surprise for those who’ve been around for a while: If many of these singles players can secure the whole pie, they always take the shot. Why do you think it took ages to secure more money for lower-ranked players? Or why some are still fighting against equal prize money between the ATP and the WTA Tours? Yep…

PLAY HARD, TRAIN HARD, DRESS THE PART 
Zhang Made A Stylish Move

Not a lot to say about it except that I am obsessed with this. Zhizhen Zhang, I wanna know the story behind that pink statement. Why? How? For how long? What’s the next color? It says everything about how deprived we’ve been of any real fashion statement on the ATP side of things, that pink hair broke my tennis fashion brain for a while. We take what we can, people. Thanks to my friend Reem Abulleil for the screenshots!

EDITOR’S PICKS 

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READ: Pickleball… But with Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi… I’m listening.

WATCH: Fernando Verdasco competing in his final ATP Tour event in Doha and starting in doubles with Novak Djokovic.