Jannik Sinner will never be able to erase the stigma of his positive doping tests and his ban from tennis, according to respected tennis broadcaster Marcus Buckland.
World No 1 Sinner ‘reached a deal’ with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to accept an immediate three-month suspension from tennis after he failed two doping tests for the anabolic steroid clostebol last year.
The Australian Open champion is suspended from February 9 until May 4 and will be back in time to play at the second Grand Slam of the year at the French Open.
His ban will conclude just before the Italian Open tournament in his homeland, with the timing of the punishment one of many talking points emerging from the biggest talking point in tennis over the last year.
While Buckland is convinced Sinner is not guilty of deliberately doping, he suggests the 23-year-old will always be associated with a doping story that started with his positive tests in March of last year.
“The worst thing from Sinner’s point of view is how this looks and the timing of the suspension,” Buckland told Tennis365.
“Most people will confirm he was not trying to cheat, but the biggest problem for him is the outcome.
“This convenience issue is a big problem. The fact that he has been banned for three months, in between Slams and he can come back for Rome in his home country, I don’t think that has done him any favours at all.
“The saddest thing for him is that this will now be associated with him for the rest of his career, whatever he achieves on the court.
“This story is coming to an end now, but tennis has become so tribal and this issue will not leave Sinner.
“You see on social media and that Novak Djokovic fans are so passionate defending their man and that all hate Rafael Nadal.
“Now we are seeing people who are massively with Sinner or totally against him. It’s like football tribalism and in some ways that’s good for the sport and we want people to be talking about tennis, but it can lead to an antagonism in the sport that I’m a little uncomfortable with.
“Of course you can have your favourites, but you can respect the achievements of other players as well.”
Buckland also suggested tennis authorities need to rebuild some trust in a doping system that has come under fire due to what have been perceived to be inconsistencies with players who post positive doping tests.
Sinner successfully convinced investigators in his case that the clostebol got into his system after a member of his team used cream to treat a cut and then transferred the substance to the Italian during a massage.
By contrast, his fellow Italian player Stefano Battaglino is currently serving a four-year ban after he tested positive for clostebol and also claimed it got into his system during a massage.
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“There has got to be more transparency around this whole area,” added Buckland.
“We had the case of Stefano Battaglino, an Italian tennis player who tested positive for clostebol after arguing it got into his system via a massage and yet he ended up with a four-year ban.
“Battaglino is a lot lower in the rankings, he couldn’t afford to hire the top lawyers, couldn’t track down the physio who did something similar to the Sinner team and now he is out of tennis.
“Of course the world No 1 is always going to be able to deal with an issue like this than someone well down the rankings, but we just need more transparency of the process and more consistency of the suspensions.
“I always feel a bit uncomfortable because at the end of any analysis of this story, the biggest thing is none of us know exactly what happened,” he added.
Sinner had been hoping to train at the Monte Carlo Country club as he counts down to his return to tennis in May, but that option has been cut off after the venue that hosts the ATP Masters 1000 clay court event each April confirmed they are subject to WADA rules and would not be able to accomodate Sinner.
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