Nadal defends Sinner, antidoping bodies after Italian's positive tests - ESPN

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. In the end, justice is justice and I believe in justice.

»I believe in the bodies that have to make decisions and that really make them based on what they believe is right."

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) cleared Sinner after he failed two drug tests in March, but he has always maintained his innocence, saying the amount of clostebol found in his system was less than a billionth of a gram.

The ITIA is an independent body established in 2021 by the governing bodies of the sport.

Novak Djokovic called for «clear protocols» and «standardized» approaches to doping cases while Australian Nick Kyrgios said Sinner should have been banned no matter the manner of doping, whether it