Sinner returns to a tour in flux as rivals fail to close gap

On Sunday night, most eyes in the tennis world were on Madrid as Jack Draper and Casper Ruud faced off for the Masters 1000 trophy.

- FLO CLIFFORD

But 4 May was also remarkable for being the final day of world No 1 Jannik Sinner’s suspension. As of Sunday, he was officially allowed to play tennis again, over a year after two positive tests for clostebol set into motion one of the sport’s most unedifying sagas of recent times.

An independent panel found him to bear “no fault or negligence” for the results, accepting his explanation of contamination, and overturned the standard provisional ban applied in such cases. The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) accepted the explanation but fought for a harsher punishment of between one and two years, before reaching a three-month settlement with the Italian shortly before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) was due to hear the case.

The protracted saga, and Wada’s volte-face, left a bad taste in the mouth of many observers.

Sinner’s case has divided the tennis world, and the locker room, like few others. Novak Djokovic questioned the fairness of the anti-doping system, arguing there was “favouritism” in how such cases are handled. Nick Kyrgios – never one to mince his words – went further, calling it “disgusting” and “a horrible look for our sport”, and suggesting that should the pair meet at the Australian Open (they didn’t), “I’d get every person in the crowd to get on him. I would turn it into an absolute riot.” Rarely has such a stereotypically genteel sport had quite such bite.