Sinner BANNED for doping

World number one Jannik Sinner has been banned for three months for doping, and many believe it is a slap on the wrist, and not a real punishment. Do you agree?

Top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner accepted a three-month ban in a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and said Saturday the agreement ends a case that was "hanging over me" since his two positive doping tests nearly a year ago.

WADA, which was seeking to ban the three-time Grand Slam champion from the sport for at least one year, had challenged a decision last year by the International Tennis Integrity Agency not to suspend Sinner for what the ITIA judged was accidental contamination by a banned anabolic steroid last March.

Sinner's explanation — that trace amounts of Clostebol in his doping sample were due to a massage from a trainer who used the substance after cutting his finger — had been accepted.

The timing means the 23-year-old Italian won't miss any Grand Slam tournaments. The French Open, the season's next major, starts May 25.

"This case had been hanging over me now 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," Sinner, who won the Australian Open in January, said in a statement. "I have always accepted that I am responsible for my team and realize 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 based on a three-month sanction."

The Montreal-based WADA had appealed the ITIA's ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. It has formally withdrawn the appeal.

The ATP Tour pointed to WADA's confirmation that Sinner "had no intent to violate anti-doping rules and gained no competitive advantage."

"This case is an important reminder of players' responsibility to carefully manage the products and treatments they or their entourages use," the governing body added in a statement Saturday.

On Friday, Sinner posted a video on Instagram of himself training in Doha at the Qatar Open, which starts next week. He was also scheduled to play in an exhibition in Las Vegas next month.

The suspension is from Feb. 9 to May 4. Sinner could return at his home tournament, the Italian Open in Rome, which starts May 7.

In late November, five-time major champion Iga Swiatek accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine. Swiatek, the world No. 2, had failed a drug test in August, and the ITIA accepted her explanation that it was unintentional.

In the singles rankings, Sinner currently leads No. 2 Alexander Zverev by 3,695 points.

Sinner stands to lose 1,600 points due to the ban: 1,000 points from his Miami Open title last March; 400 points from reaching the Monte Carlo Masters semifinals last April; and 200 points from reaching the Madrid Open quarterfinals.

If Zverev wins several titles while Sinner is out, the German could take over the No. 1 ranking.