Boris Becker sends supportive message to Jannik Sinner after Italian calls out WADA for appealing his doping verdict and seeking two-year ban

Boris Becker extended his support to Jannik Sinner after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed the Italian's doping verdict and sought a ban of up to two years. Earlier this year, during the Indian Wells Masters, Sinner had failed two of his drug tests after he tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid.

Last month, it came to light that Sinner had tested positive for the banned substance, clostebol and following an investigation by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), an independent tribunal found that the World No.1 had "no fault or negligence" for the Anti-Doping Rule Violations.

After the ruling in favor of Jannik Sinner, WADA officially lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the ITIA's decision and has asked for a ban of one to two years.

In response to WADA's appeal, Jannik Sinner released a statement, expressing his disappointment with the anti-doping agency's decision. He stated that his innocence was proved after the ITIA hearing and that he had nothing to hide. He also said that he will cooperate fully to prove his innocence once again.

"I am disappointed to hear that WADA have chosen to appeal the result of my ITIA hearing after the independent judges had exonerated me and deemed me to be innocent. Over the past few months and throughout this process there have been three separate hearings in each case confirming my innocence," Sinner said.

"I have nothing to hide, and as I have done throughout the summer, I will cooperate fully with the appeal process and provide whatever may be needed to prove my innocence once again," he added.

Borris Becker backed Sinner's statement and took to social media (X, formerly known as Twitter) to write:

"Word," Becker posted on X.

Even Andy Murray's former coach, Mark Petchey, stepped in to defend Jannik Sinner amid accusations from other tennis players and fans that the Italian received preferential treatment in handling his doping case.

Jannik Sinner: "I'm just surprised that they [WADA] appealed"

Jannik Sinner at a press conference [Source: Getty]

Jannik Sinner is currently in Beijing, looking to defend his title at the 2024 China Open. He began his campaign by defeating Nicolas Jarry in the first round, followed by a victory over Roman Safiullin in the second.

During the post-match press conference, Sinner expressed that he was surprised and disappointed at WADA's appeal, especially after three hearings that had ended positively for him.

"I'm very disappointed and also surprised of this appeal, to be honest, because we had three hearings. All three hearings came out very positively for me. I was not expecting it," Sinner said .

"Maybe they just want to make sure that everything is in the right position. Yeah, I'm just surprised that they appealed," he added

Looking ahead, Sinner will face Jiri Lehecka in the quarterfinals of the China Open. The winner of this match will then advance to compete against wild card Buyunchaokete, Andrey Rublev, or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the semifinals.

​