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World No 1 Jannik Sinner said yesterday he did not know when the highest court in sport will deliver its verdict as ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi stressed the Italian’s doping case was “run by the book”.
Defending Australian Open champion Sinner twice tested positive for traces of the steroid clostebol in March.
He was exonerated by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, which accepted his explanation that the drug entered his system when his physio used a spray containing it to treat a cut, then provided massage and sports therapy to the player.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Sinner is awaiting the verdict with a suspension possible.
Asked on the eve of the Australian Open if he knew when a verdict was due, the 23-year-old said: “I know exactly as much as you guys know.
“We are in a stage where we don’t know many, many things.”
Sinner, who faces a stern first-round test at Melbourne Park against big-hitting Chilean Nicolas Jarry, admitted the scandal continued to play on his mind.
“You think about this, of course,” he said.
“I would lie if I would tell you I forget. It’s something what I have with me now already for quite a long time. But it is what it is. I’m here trying to prepare the Grand Slam. Let’s see how it goes.”
Sinner said he had always been “very, very careful on every single medicine I take, even what I eat.
“When the bottle is open, I throw it away, I take a new one,” he said.
“In my mind I know exactly what happened, and that’s how I block it (out).
“I haven’t done anything wrong, that’s why I’m still here. That’s why I’m still playing.” – SuperSport
Online Reporter