Jannik Sinner's Settlement And Ban At Odds With Previous Wada Decisions

The decision to suspend Jannik Sinner for three months between grand slams over doping violations is the latest move chipping away at athletes' confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), according to a leading sports lawyer.

Sinner and WADA agreed to a three-month ban as part of a settlement over tests that found traces of a steroid called clostebol in the 23-year-old's system in 2024.

The timing of the WADA hearing and the truncated ban allows the world number one men's tennis player to play and win the Australian Open in January, sit out until early May, before returning in time for the Rome Masters in the lead-up to the French Open later that month.

The decision has been met with widespread criticism, with 2003 US Open winner Andy Roddick equating it to a student "getting suspended during Spring Break".

Sports lawyer Tim Fuller, who represented Australian swimmer Shayna Jack during her doping saga, said it was the latest move eroding trust in WADA and the whole integrity of the anti-doping process.

"Athletes and everybody involved in sport — whether it's a fan or administrator — are starting to lose confidence in WADA and the doping regime," he told ABC Radio National.

"It follows on from the perplexing approach to the Chinese swimmers prior to the Paris Games. These types of decisions really erode confidence in the rules — what's good for one is not good for another.

"There's supposed to be consistency with the rules … [but] at the moment we're starting to see the so-called discretion authorities are able to use being applied to leading athletes and not to others."

Fuller said he had heard from a number of athletes saying "they're very unhappy with this decision", and plenty more have voiced their opinions publicly.

World number eight Daniil Medvedev, who has lost eight of his past nine matches against Sinner, told reporters he hopes this sets a precedent that other players can take advantage of.

"I hope that from now on everyone can talk to WADA and if they tell you: 'we found this, it's been two years', you answer: 'no, I want one month'," he said in remarks translated from French.