It must not have been easy for Jannik Sinner to play the 2nd round of the China Open against Roman Safiullin with rather negative thoughts in his head, but the young Italian was able to beat his opponent in 3 sets, qualifying for the 3rd round of the Beijing tournament, WADAappeal to the CAS ruling on the Clostebol doping-issue.
The Italian closed the match with a score of 3-6 6-2 6-3 and will face Jiri Lehecka in the next round. In a press conference, the ATP number 1 commented on Wada's decision, saying he was surprised and, above all, very disappointed.
"We can't control everything. Of course I'm very disappointed and also surprised about this appeal, to be honest, because we had three hearings. All three hearings were very positive for me. I didn't expect that. I knew for a couple of days that they were going to appeal and that today it would become official. Maybe they just want to make sure that everything is in the right place," he explained.
Expressing on his match against Safiullin, the young Italian analyzed: "It was very tough. I didn't start well. I'm happy that I found a solution in the end. It was very important. It was similar to the first round match as well. Today I struggled a little bit, especially with the serve in the first set. He returned very well. He was playing very strong from the baseline. I tried to react a little bit. In the second set I changed a couple of things, which helped me to get into the rhythm of the match. The third set is always a little bit complicated. But I'm happy with how I reacted. Of course, if I want to win the next round, I have to raise my level. Jiri is playing fantastic tennis."
WADAs appeal
"The World Anti-Doping Agency confirms that it has lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday 26 September in the case of Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner, who was found by an independent tribunal of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) to be free of fault or negligence for testing positive twice for Clostebol, a prohibited substance, in March 2024. WADA believes that the finding of no 'fault or negligence'is incorrect under the applicable rules and is therefore seeking a period of ineligibility of between 1 and 2 years. WADA is not seeking a disqualification for any result other than that already imposed by the first instance tribunal. As the matter is now pending before CAS, WADA will not comment further at this time.
With this official note, the World Anti-Doping Agency announced the appeal on the case involving the world number one, who tested positive for the substance in a test carried out this year at the ATP Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, in which he subsequently lost points and the prize money he had initially collected.
The affair will have to live another chapter, even though the Italian hoped to put it behind him once and for all and think exclusively about playing tennis. CAS in Lausanne will deal with the appeal presented by WADA, which had until the end of September to appeal the decision of the independent ITIA tribunal.
The disqualification would be quite heavy, given that the request is for at least one year. Italian fans are inevitably worried about the issue that is forcefully returning to the forefront: all that remains is to wait for the hearing and further news on the case that has shaken the 23-year-old Italian in recent months.
