PARIS: Former world number one Daniil Medvedev said he hopes other players can also reach settlements with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) after Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner accepted an immediate three-month doping ban on Saturday.

Sinner reached a settlement with WADA, who had appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against an independent tribunal’s decision to clear the Italian of wrongdoing after the three-times Grand Slam winner failed drug tests.

Rather than face the prospect of a lengthy ban, with a decision expected by the end of the year, Sinner accepted the three-month suspension which will allow him to return before the French Open. WADA withdrew its appeal after the settlement.

“I hope that the next few times, the players will be able to do that. WADA will say, ‘We’ve found that (anti-doping rule violation), you get two years.’ And you say, ‘Well, no, I want one month’,” Medvedev told reporters.

“So I hope that it will create a precedent where everyone will have the opportunity to defend themselves better than before. Otherwise, if it’s not going to be possible, it’s going to be bizarre.”

Medvedev said Sinner was probably able to reach a settlement as he had a good team of lawyers, a luxury most players on the tour do not have.

“I hope that everyone will have the right to represent themselves because sometimes players don’t have the money for a lawyer, they do it themselves,” Medvedev added.

“It’s a bad sign if he’s the only one who can do that, but it’s a very good sign if, after that, everyone will be able to do it.”

The settlement was criticised by current and former players, with Australian Nick Kyrgios saying it was a “sad day for tennis”.

The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), an organisation established by Novak Djokovic, said the “bias is unacceptable” after many other players received longer bans.

The PTPA said last month it was launching a new pro-bono legal defence programme for players facing allegations of doping or corruption.

‘SOUR TASTE’

Former British number one Tim Henman said the settlement left a “sour taste for the sport”.

“I don’t think in any way he has been trying to cheat at any stage,” Henman told Sky Sports.

“However, when I read this statement... it just seems a little bit too convenient. It seems that there’s words like ‘agreement’, and it almost seems like there’s been a negotiation.

“I think when you’re dealing with drugs in sport, it very much has to be black and white. It’s binary, it’s positive or negative — you’re banned or you’re not banned.”

Britain’s former number one-ranked doubles player Tara Moore, who was cleared of an anti-doping rule violation 19 months after she was suspended, said on X: “Can someone explain how a negotiation was possible?”

Moore had spent $250,000 in legal fees and said she expects her expenses will climb as the International Tennis Integrity Agency told her it would appeal an independent tribunal finding of no fault or negligence.

World number five Jessica Pegula believes the handling of high-profile doping cases has shown that the “process is completely broken”.

And top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka admits she cannot trust the tennis anti-doping system and has become “too scared” of it.

“I think my reaction is that, whether you think he did or you don’t, or whatever side you’re on, the process just seems to be completely not a process,” the American told reporters in Dubai on Sunday.

“It seems to just be whatever decisions and factors they take into consideration, and they just make up their own ruling.

Sabalenka refused to comment on the outcome of the Sinner case but says she has become too wary of falling foul to the sport’s strict anti-doping rules.

“You just start to be more careful. For example, before I wouldn’t care about leaving my glass of water and go to the bathroom in a restaurant. Now, I’m not going to drink from the same glass of water,” said the Belarusian world number one.

“You just become a bit more aware of stuff and this thing gets to your head that, like, if someone used a cream on you and you test positive, they’re going to go for you and they’re not going to believe you or anything.

“You just become too scared of the system. I don’t see how I can trust the system.”

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2025