Carlos Alcaraz was asked about the World Anti-Doping Agency’s appeal to Jannik Sinner‘s doping case, and he shared his thoughts on the situation, which he thought was a closed case.
An independent court that reviewed Sinner’s doping case cleared the Italian of any wrongdoing. The Italian was allowed to compete and was only stripped of his prize money and points from the event at which he tested positive, the Indian Wells Open.
Everybody thought the case would be closed after that, including the Italian player himself. Alcaraz also believed the matter was over, but clearly, it was not, as WADA is now appealing the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
In practice, this means that a new trial will take place. If the appeal is accepted, the Italian is likely to be suspended from the sport for a certain period. Sinner’s best-case scenario is that CAS simply dismisses the case and upholds what the initial court found.
That would mean Sinner would walk out without any punishment, except for the prize money and points lost. He was quite disappointed by this matter being reopened because he fully believed it was settled and that he could move on with his career.
Alcaraz was asked about his thoughts on the matter at the 2024 China Open, and he was also surprised to find that the case had been reopened. He spoke about it after earning his 200th career win.
“Well, yeah, as you said, it’s really sensitive things to Jannik and tennis in general. I mean, after everything was decided, let’s say, before Cincinnati, the ITIA said that Jannik Sinner said he didn’t do anything wrong, and now came again, it is open again.”
“I think for tennis is not really good, not really good sign for tennis in general. It seems like something happen. But, you know, after one months, let’s say, I thought it was closed, anything is going to happen again.”
Alcaraz hasn’t spoken on the matter directly in the past, as it’s not a situation that would directly impact his tennis career, but he’s taken the stance many of his colleagues took, showing support to his colleague.
“Jannik is innocent, and they saw that Jannik didn’t do anything wrong. So I started to thinking about it and start thinking about myself. This month I didn’t know what happen exactly.”
“I just saw the news, and it surprised me a little bit. Okay, what’s going on that the case is open again? I don’t know how it’s going to be in the next few months. For sure to tennis, not a good sign.”
Both of them are in Beijing this week, competing at the China Open, and they could meet in the final if both continue playing well. Sinner and Alcaraz have played a couple of times this year, with the Spaniard proving better both times. They even played at the notorious Indian Wells Open, where Alcaraz actually beat Sinner.
