Jannik Sinner might not have an easy off-season despite a stellar year. His next target is not only defending his Australian Open title from this year, but also the case filed against him at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) by WADA, which has contested Sinner’s verdict by the ITIA. However, WADA’s head has now come out with a statement which could make the Sinner case more interesting.
In an interview with French publication L’Equipe, Oliver Niggli claimed that there is a problem of contamination today in samples taken from athletes. Niggli said that the laboratories has become so efficient today that any drug can be detected and that too in the smallest of quantities, which can contaminate the samples. He called for an urgent solution to this, otherwise cases like Sinner’s could get out of hand.
Niggli was quoted as saying –
” Today there is a problem of contamination. The quantities found are so small that it is possible to become contaminated by doing even trivial things.
“I understand the public, who thinks we are naive. But the reality is different.
“There is a problem. If we wanted to simplify our lives, we could impose new thresholds and not find all these cases. But the real question is: ‘ Are we ready to accept microdosing? Where do we stop?”
Niggli’s observation links directly to Sinner’s claim when he was accused of doping. In his defense, Sinner said that he wasn’t aware of Clostebol being present in a spray administered to him by his now ex-trainer, Giorgi Naldi for the purpose of treating a small cut and massaging it to relieve his pain.
Recently, even women’s superstar Iga Swiatek was accused of doping over a banned substance being present in her sample. In her verdict, it was revealed that the sample was contaminated because of the consumption of meat, which made the presence of the substance larger than what it was.
The difference is that Swiatek failed in one test by a minute margin, while Sinner failed in two separate tests. If it isn’t easy to verify samples, then their readings might not be accurate and that alarming enough for him to be punished.
Should that be the case, then it could be a huge boost for Sinner and his team of lawyers as they try to avoid a potential 2-year ban from the sport. The head of WADA raising such a query publicly might be valuable in the court of law as an argument to support the athlete.
Sinner gets huge Djokovic praise as doping case gets deferred
If Sinner remains 100% fit, he could play the entire Australian Open 2025. The hearing date of his case has been deferred to February 11, 2025 or after that.
As they say, one is innocent until proven guilty. So Sinner’s reputation is intact in many circles, and more so with Novak Djokovic. The 24-time Grand Slam champion, in one of his latest interviews with SW Sportweek, was full of praise for the Italian.
Djokovic claimed that he had already heard of Sinner when he was trying to make it big at the age of 15. So he had predicted that he would be a future champion in the sport.
The former World No.1 feels that Sinner always wants to improve on his game and that is something he admires about him. Djokovic also credited the Italian Tennis Federation for investing so heavily in young talent across the country and encouraging them at every step, and this is why Italy is dominating tennis at present.
Djokovic
“Ricordo Sinner quando aveva 14/15 anni e, già allora, se ne parlava bene. Si vedeva che avrebbe avuto una grande carriera. Non mi sorprende vederlo oggi a questi livelli: Jannik mi piace perché vuole sempre migliorarsi.
Consigli? Mi pare se la stia cavando bene… pic.twitter.com/6gQ0rHbDZa
— Giovanni Pelazzo (@giovannipelazzo) November 30, 2024
Interestingly, Sinner has earned a lot of comparisons with Djokovic for his style of play and dominance on the ATP Tour this season, especially from the likes of Patrick Mouratoglou. And Djokovic knows that well.
Whether Djokovic is right about supporting Sinner in these tough times, will be proven in the coming months. One thing is for certain, Sinner and Djokovic are set to be the favorites at the Australian Open in January 2025, being the previous two winners of the Grand Slam.
