In February this year, Sinner accepted a three-month ban from the sport after he was found violating an anti-doping rule, The Athletic reported.
The 23-year-old, who secured a win in the Australian Open in January this year, had reached a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in connection with the two positive drugs tests, wherein he tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid, clostebol, last year.
WADA had challenged the decision by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) that cleared him of any wrongdoings.
Serena Williams talks about the ban
The former world number one was recently named in the Time100 list of most influential people.
In an interview with the Time magazine, Williams said that she “loves” Sinner and his game, noting that he is “great for the sport”.She went on to say that she was put down “so much” during her career and does not wish to bring anyone down, adding that men’s tennis needs a player like Sinner.”(But) if I did that, I would have gotten 20 years. Let’s be honest. I would have gotten Grand Slams taken away from me,” BBC quoted Williams as saying.
The 43-year-old stated that she used to take extra care of what she was having to avoid getting into trouble.
She even quipped that a similar PDA scandal during her own career might have landed her “in jail” and people would have got to know about it in “another multiverse.”
In 2018, Williams claimed to be a victim of “discrimination” when it came to the number of drug tests she was required to undertake. During that year, Deadspin website had stated that the US Anti-Doping Agency tested her out of competition on five events by June 2018.
Serena Williams expresses sympathy for Maria Sharapova
Williams said that “weirdly and oddly” she thinks about her former rival Maria Sharapova and “feel for her”.
The Russian player got a 15-month ban during her career after she tested positive for a substance. She claimed that she was not aware that it was added to the banned list in 2016.
Meanwhile, Sinner has maintained his innocence in the matter and claims that clostebol in his doping sample was actually because of a massage from a trainer. The other person had used it after cutting his own finger, ESPN reported.
FAQs
1. When will Jannik Sinner be back to court?
The three-month ban on Sinner comes to an end on May 4.
2. When did Serena Williams announce her retirement?
She left the game in 2022 after making her final US Open appearance.
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