There “could have been better communication” in explaining the rules involved in Jannik Sinner’s doping case, ATP Tour chairman Andrea Gaudenzi acknowledged Thursday.
However, Gaudenzi said at the ATP Finals anyone hinting that a “double standard” was applied because of top-ranked Sinner’s status is “unfair because the rules have been the same.”
Sinner is playing at home this week for the first time since it was announced before his U.S. Open title that he tested positive for an anabolic steroid in two separate drug tests in March.
The case wasn’t made public until August.
“I learned the day before we all learned,” Gaudenzi said in his first public comments on the case. He spoke in a round-table discussion with international reporters.
“And to be honest, I’m happy about that. I really thank the ITA [International Testing Agency] and our representatives there for intentionally keeping me and our entire team in the dark because that’s how it should be.
“It should be completely independent and that was agreed by the [parties]. It was a shock, but obviously comforted by the evidence afterward.”
A decision by an independent tribunal to clear Sinner of wrongdoing was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in September and the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is expected to make a final ruling on the case early next year.
Sinner’s explanation was that the banned performance-enhancer entered his system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist, who used a spray containing the steroid to treat his own cut finger.
WADA is seeking a ban of one to two years for Sinner.
“We are completely external and it’s [an] independent process,” Gaudenzi said. “I generally think has been a fair process. It was really done by the book and by the rules. Maybe there could have been better communication in explaining those rules, and that is something that I would urge every party involved to work better in the next time.”
First to qualify for semifinals in Italy
On the court, Sinner became the first player to advance to the semifinals at the ATP Finals on Thursday.
He was assured of a spot in the last four after U.S. Open finalist Taylor Fritz beat Alex de Minaur 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in their group.
Sinner won his opening two matches and plays Daniil Medvedev in a match scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET. Last year, Sinner lost the final to Novak Djokovic, who pulled out injured this year.
Fritz also has two wins, while Medvedev is still in contention and could get to two wins by beating Sinner. De Minaur was mathematically eliminated without any wins in his finals debut.
The top two finishers in each group advance to the semifinals. The Sinner-Medvedev match will determine whether the other qualifier is Fritz or Medvedev.
“If I don’t get through it’s going to be tough because I did play two very good matches and lost to the best player in the world,” Fritz said of his defeat to Sinner. “But if that happens I’m happy with my week and I’ll leave with my head held high. But I’ll definitely be checking in on the score tonight.”
Alexander Zverev leads the other group ahead of Casper Ruud, Carlos Alcaraz and Andrey Rublev.
Tourney future to be revealed Sunday
Gaudenzi said he plans to announce on Sunday the future host of the ATP Finals. The contract with Turin expires next year and there is an option to move the event to nearby Milan at a bigger arena being built for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.
“We are all super happy with what’s happened here in Turin and of course we’ve been a bit lucky with the players in Italy,” Gaudenzi said. “It’s not only Jannik but also Matteo Berrettini played the first edition. Nobody could foresee that.
“We knew we were going to a tennis country,” said Gaudenzi, who is Italian and a former pro player. “[Finals] should definitely go in a market that loves tennis. … It’s obviously going to get better if you have a local hero, no doubt.”
Gaudenzi does not want to move the finals too far away geographically from the previous stop on the circuit, the Paris Masters.
“We want to try to avoid the players to fly around the world,” he said, “because they do enough traveling all over throughout the year.”
