These are not easy days for Jannik Sinner, underthe spotlight for the WADA appeal at the CAS in Lausanne against the ITIA ruling relating to the positivity to the doping substance Clostebol, found during Indian Wells: but this is not distracting the young Italian from the tennis court and from pursuingnew incredible milestones.
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On the court there is a data that testifies to all this; the Italian, in 2024, managed to win 9 times out of 11 cases when he was down after losing the first set. Impressive numbers that testify to his great willpower, with very high percentages - above 80% - when the Italian is down in the number of sets.
Just look at how Carlitos Alcaraz, in the same data in 2024, achieved only 54% of victories from a set down. Numbers highlight Sinner's strength on and off the court, as evidenced by the victory against Roman Safiullin, which projected him to the quarterfinals of the China Open in Beijing.
In a few hours Jannik will play against Jiri Lehecka to secure a place in the semifinals but, after the victory against Safiullin, he said:
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"It was very tough. I didn't start at my best. I'm happy to have found a solution in the end. It was very important. It was also similar to the first round match. Today I struggled a 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 bit. In the second set I changed a couple of things, which helped me get into the rhythm of the match. The third set is always a bit tricky. 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."
However, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, it is not an easy time for the ATP number 1. It seems strange to say this given that we are talking about a tennis player coming off an impressive series of victories, but the Italian is dealing with the Wada case and in these hours the World Anti-Doping Agency has decided to appeal against the decision to acquit Jannik and has released the following statement:
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"The World Anti-Doping Agency confirms that it has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday 26 September for the case of the Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner, judged by an independent tribunal of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) to be without fault or negligence for having tested positive twice for Clostebol, a prohibited substance, in March 2024. WADA believes that the finding of 'no fault or negligence is not correct under the current rules and therefore requests a period of ineligibility of between 1 and 2 years."
