Jannik Sinner is set to face a worrying few months as he waits to discover if he will face a lengthy suspension from tennis, with Grand Slam-winning great Mark Woodforde suggesting his off-field concerns could impact his focus on court.
World No 1 Sinner is heading to Melbourne as the defending Australian Open champion, but he will arrive with a huge cloud over him after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed against a verdict from tennis chiefs to spare Sinner a ban from tennis following his two positive doping tests last March.
He was initially cleared by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) of wrongdoing after an anabolic steroid was found in his system, but the WADA appeal has prolonged his agony and there is a widespread expectation that he will be forced to serve a ban.
WADA are requesting a one to two-year ban for Sinner, with 17-time Grand Slam-winning doubles champion Woodforde suggesting the stress around the case could affect the world No 1.
“He did remarkably well last season, but it is not going to get any easier for him now with the appeal process coming up,” said Woodforde, speaking to Tennis365 in his role as an ambassador for the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open 2025.
“There is already a lot of talk about what happens next in this story, but there is a possibility that some kind of suspension may be coming.
“He has already gone through one step of the process and has been able to compartmentalise these issues that have been happening off the court and to just keep his head down.
“He struggled in the early rounds of the US Open, I felt, and it was fortunate that he was up against guys in the early rounds who didn’t have the belief they could beat him.
“Once he got settled into the tournament, he was looking good all the way and that’s how he would like to approach it again this year.
“Being the defending champion adds another pressure for the young man so it will be fascinating to see how he handles it.”
Tennis365 spoke to ITIA chief Karen Moorhouse about the Sinner case and accusations that he was given preferential treatment due to his status in the game, but she emphatically denied those suggestions.
Amid claims from former world No 1 Simona Halep that she received different treatment compared to current world No 2 Iga Swiatek when she recorded a positive doping test, Moorhouse offered this response.
“There is a strict liability principle that an athlete is responsible for what is in their body, so once you get a positive test, it’s up to the athlete to explain why,” Moorhouse told Tennis365 in an exclusive interview.
Under the WADA code, all sports have an obligation to impose a provisional suspension when you have a positive test on an unspecified substance.
“After that, they can use discretion on whether they announce provisional suspensions or not and there is a range of approaches taken.
“In athletics, they pretty much announce provisional suspension on day one. A lot of team sports don’t announce provisional suspension at all.
“Tennis took the decision that we don’t announce provisional suspension for at least 10 days. This allows time to test the B sample and it gives a player time to challenge the provisional suspension. If that appeal is successful and is made within 10 days, we don’t announce the provisional suspension.