Aneke Rune, Holger Rune‘s mother, believes Jannik Sinner‘s ban is excessively long and that his doping case took too long to resolve. She is also concerned about players living in constant fear of testing positive for banned substances.
Opinions in the tennis world have varied drastically since it was announced that Sinner accepted a three-month ban from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to conclude his doping case, thereby avoiding an appeal hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Sinner’s troubling saga began when he tested positive for clostebol almost a year ago at the 2024 Indian Wells Open. WADA accepted that his physiotherapist accidentally contaminated him but initially appealed the case before reaching a settlement with Sinner.
Nick Kyrgios labeled the settlement as a dark day for tennis, arguing that fairness is lacking in the sport. Conversely, Rafael Nadal’s uncle Toni believes Sinner did not deserve a ban due to the accidental and minuscule amount involved.
In an interview with the Danish outlet Ekstra Bladet, Aneke Rune expressed that she thinks the three-month ban for Sinner was harsh, although she acknowledged that she is not an expert on the specifics of the case.
“I personally think that three months and a year of processing time is too long. I don’t know the details of the individual case enough to say whether it is reasonable. That is WADA’s board.”
“As I read it, I think most of the athletes’ criticism is that there are such different guidelines in individual cases where there are obvious accidents and not intentional doping.”
Holger Rune’s mother appeared to empathize with Sinner, highlighting how easily clostebol can be transferred from another person inadvertently, as evidenced by the Italian only having a billionth of a gram in his system during his two positive tests.
“If you read a little about clostebol, you can see how frighteningly easy it can be transferred to other people if it has been used by a third party. That, I think, is almost the scariest thing about this case. Think about how many fans you give high fives to, surfaces you touch, etc.”
Aneke believes that the low concentration of a substance in a player’s system should be taken seriously when adjudicating cases. Otherwise, players may become hesitant to engage in public activities.
“The players will become neurotic. Now clostebol is a prescription drug in most countries, and there is therefore little risk of transmission. But not in Italy. It should be as a consequence of all the cases they have had, to protect their athletes.”
“But there may be other substances that are also easily transmitted, and therefore it is important to look at the lower limit values, so that the athletes do not end up isolating themselves completely.”
“I read about an athlete recently where they had found traces of something that occurs in strong alcohol, but which in isolation can be performance-enhancing. There are also steaks where the cow has eaten steroids, which show up in tests – this is also a problem that several athletes have run into.”
