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Jannik Sinner accepts 3-month ban for doping; will return for French Open

Jannik Sinner will not miss a Grand Slam after accepting a three-month doping ban.

Pat Benson

Jannik Sinner of Italy in action during the Semifinals of the 2025 Australian Open on January 24 2025, at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia.
Jannik Sinner of Italy in action during the Semifinals of the 2025 Australian Open on January 24 2025, at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. / IMAGO / Icon Sportswire

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner has finally received closure for his ongoing doping scandal. Sinner and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have reached a resolution agreement where Sinner accepts a three-month ban from tennis.

The agency said in a statement, "Mr. Sinner will serve his period of ineligibility from 9 February 2025 to 11:59 pm on 4 May 2025."

WADA accepted that Sinner "did not intend to cheat" or receive "any performance-enhancing benefit" and that he was inadvertently contaminated "without his knowledge as the result of negligence of members of his entourage."

Sinner said in a statement: "This case had been hanging over me for nearly a year and the process still had a long time to run with a decision maybe only at the end of the year.

The statement continued, "I have always accepted that I am responsible for my team and realise Wada's strict rules are an important protection for the sport I love. On that basis I have accepted Wada's offer to resolve these proceedings on the basis of a three-month sanction."

While missing three months of action is a big deal for any tennis player, especially the World No. 1, it could have easily been much worse. WADA was initially seeking a 1-2 year ban for Sinner.

The controversy stems from Sinner's two failed drugs in March 2024. The Italian superstar tested positive for clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid, twice.

However, the story did not break until just before the US Open. On August 20, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced that its investigation concluded with an independent panel overseen by arbitrator Sport Resolutions on August 15.

At that hearing, the panel ruled that Sinner had "no fault or negligence" for the two violations. Just over a month later, WADA appealed the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

WADA, which sits above the ITIA as the worldwide authority in sports doping, sought, "a period of ineligibility of between one and two years."

While the ongoing investigations hung over Sinner's head off the court, he was dominant on the court. From April 2024 through January 2025, Sinner won seven ATP singles titles, including two Grand Slams (the US Open and the Australian Open).

Sinner has not played since winning his third career Grand Slam in Melbourne last month and will miss several important tournaments (although no Majors), including ATP 1000 events:

The BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (March 5-16) and the Miami Open (March 19-30) on hard court, with ATP 1000 clay court events Monte-Carlo Masters (April 6-13) and Madrid Open (April 23-May 4).

Sinner could still hold onto his World No. 1 spot, but he will lose significant points in the ATP rankings. Sinner has already lost his ranking points from the 2024 Indian Wells event and will miss out on valuable points from the upcoming Spring tournaments.

Sinner will lose 1,000 points from Miami, 400 from Monte Carlo, and 200 from Madrid. Unrelated to the case, Sinner has not yet lost the 500 points not defending his title in the Rotterdam Open last week.

The 2025 French Open starts on May 25, and the world can expect a well-rested, and perhaps rusty, Sinner on the clay courts at Roland Garros. Tennis fans can follow Sports Illustrated's Serve on SI for all the most important news from the sport.

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Pat Benson
PAT BENSON

Pat Benson covers the sneaker industry for Sports Illustrated's FanNation. Previously, he has reported on the NBA, authored "Kobe Bryant's Sneaker History (1996-2020)," and interviewed some of the biggest names in the sports world. You can email him at 1989patbenson@gmail.com.

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