Sinner, who won the US Open earlier this month, twice tested positive for an anabolic steroid in March but on August 20 the International Tennis Integrity Agency determined he was not to blame and imposed no punishment.
The ITIA accepted Sinner’s explanation that the banned substance entered his body as a result of a massage from his physio, who had used a spray containing the steroid to treat a cut on their finger.
But WADA has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, seeking to impose a ban of up to two years on the 23-year-old Italian.
A statement from the agency said: “It is WADA’s view that the finding of ‘no fault or negligence’ was not correct under the applicable rules.
“WADA is seeking a period of ineligibility of between one and two years. WADA is not seeking a disqualification of any results, save that which has already been imposed by the tribunal of first instance.”
Sinner was on court on Saturday morning at the China Open, rallying to beat Roman Safiullin 3-6 6-2 6-3 and advance to the quarter-finals and he gave his reaction to the news of the WADA appeal.
“Obviously I’m very disappointed and also surprised of this appeal, to be honest, because we had three hearings,” said Sinner.
“All three hearings came out very positively for me. You know, I was not expecting it. I knew it a couple of days ago, that they were going to appeal, that today it’s going to go official.
“It’s a surprise. We always talk about the same thing. Maybe they just want to make sure that everything is in the right position. Yeah, I’m just surprised that they appealed.”
A statement from the International Tennis Integrity Agency said: “The ITIA acknowledges the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decision to appeal the ruling of no fault or negligence in the case of Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner, issued by an independent tribunal appointed by Sport Resolutions on 19 August 2024.
“Under the terms of the World Anti-Doping Code, WADA has the final right to appeal all such decisions.
“Having reached an agreed set of facts following a thorough investigative process, the case was referred to a tribunal entirely independent of the ITIA to determine level of fault and therefore sanction because of the unique set of circumstances, and lack of comparable precedent.
“The process was run according to world anti-doping code guidelines. However, the ITIA acknowledges and respects WADA’s right to appeal the independent tribunal’s decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”