NEW YORK — Rafael Nadal has defended Jannik Sinner after the world No. 1 tested positive for a banned substance but avoided punishment, saying the Italian would never have considered doping and he was not judged differently just because he is the top-ranked player.
In March, Sinner tested positive for the steroid clostebol, which can be used to build muscle mass, but was cleared by a tribunal after they learned his physio applied a spray to a cut on his own hand before carrying out treatments on the Italian.
Sinner arrived at the US Open with players alleging double standards when he was cleared of wrongdoing where others had been provisionally suspended for similar positive tests, but Nadal said the antidoping organizations must be trusted. «I have a virtue or a deficit, which is that in the end I usually believe in people's good faith.
I know Sinner, I don't believe that Sinner has ever wanted to dope,» Nadal told Spanish television show «El Hormiguero.» «I don't think we have to like it only when it is resolved in the way we think.