Top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner is "very confident" that he will avoid a doping ban after the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed a decision to clear him of wrongdoing following two positive drug tests.
The Montreal-based body known as WADA announced Saturday that it is seeking a ban of one to two years for the U.S. Open champion and has appealed to the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). "I'm still surprised but I will collaborate like I did before," Sinner said Friday, the day before his first match at the Shanghai Masters. "I had three hearings in which the three hearings went all my way, which you know, it was good.
But now let's see. "But I'm very confident that it comes out very, very positively. I would be very, very surprised if it would be the opposite side." The appeal means that the case might not be resolved before Sinner begins the defence of his Australian Open title in January.
Sinner can continue playing while the appeal is being heard. The 23-year-old Sinner learned of WADA's decision at the start of the Chinese Open, where he went on to lose to Carlos Alcaraz in Wednesday's final. "It's not in a situation where I feel comfortable in, that's for sure, because I thought it was over.