RIO DE JANEIRO – Alexander Zverev is not satisfied with the decision of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in the “Sinner case”.
“For me, it’s either you have to decide was it his fault or was it not his fault”,’ Zverev told CLAY in Rio de Janeiro during a media encounter at the ATP 500 tournament that starts on Monday in the Brazilian city.
WADA announced this week that it had reached an agreement to end the case, with Sinner accepting a three-month suspension after being exonerated without suspension by the Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).
The Italian Sinner, number one in world tennis, tested positive in 2024 for clostebol, an anabolic steroid. The explanation given by his lawyers, accepted by the ITIA, was that it was an unintentional contamination from the work of one of his physiotherapists.
Zverev, who lost the Australian Open final to Sinner in January, was harsh in his analysis.
“It’s a weird situation because it’s been obviously a very long process where first he is cleared, then obviously WADA wanted to have a second look at it and stuff like that. To me, I think, you know, there’s two options.”
“Either you’re at no fault and you should get no suspension at all. Because if you have no fault, then you have no fault. You shouldn’t get punished. But if you do have fault, then I think for taking steroids, three months is not a suspension.”
“So for me, it’s either you have to decide was it his fault or was it not his fault. If it’s not his fault then he shouldn’t get a three-month suspension but if it is his fault then this is weird in a way. The whole process, the whole situation that has been there for the past year almost it’s been just strange”.
Zverev’s harshness in the analysis drew attention with the close memory of the Australian Open. In January in Melbourne, the German said he was not aware of the details of the case, but after a final in which he was beaten by Sinner, he received warm words and encouragement from the Italian moments before the awards ceremony.
Italian Lorenzo Musetti, present in Rio with the uncertainty of whether he will recover from the injury suffered in Buenos Aires and be able to play, was more conciliatory with his compatriot and differed from Stanislas Wawrinka.
After learning of the agreement between WADA and Sinner, the Swiss wrote that he had stopped ‘believing in clean sport’.
“Everyone is free to have their opinion. I don’t really know the facts, so it’s tough to judge. But of course, I trust the organization, and all the commissions that have been behind the process, which is when they finalized a decision. So if that decision is the three months suspension, for us I don’t think it changed much”.
When CLAY asked him if he had been in contact with Sinner after hearing the agreement, Musetti admitted that he had not.
“No, I haven’t been in touch with him, but I will probably see him in Monte Carlo. Because he’s not supposed to play, but of course he will be there”.
