Jannik Sinner doesn’t agree and expresses all his bitterness about the appeal of Wada, the world anti-doping agency, while showing serenity. He said he was “very surprised and disappointed” by the appeal to the Tas (Sports Arbitration Tribunal) against the acquittal of the Italian No. 1 tennis player in the world in relation to the Clostebol case. «It’s not very simple, but I can’t control everything», he explained in the press conference after coming from behind to beat the Russian Roman Safiullin 2 sets to 1 at the ATP 500 in Beijing, in which he is participating as the reigning champion. And then, in a note, Sinner reiterated his willingness to continue collaborating, with the certainty that his innocence has already been proven: «I have nothing to hide and, as I have done throughout the summer, I will collaborate fully with the appeals process and I will provide everything necessary to prove my innocence once again. I am disappointed to know that WADA has chosen to appeal the outcome of my ITIA hearing after the independent judges had exonerated me and found me innocent.” The match at the Diamond Court, the central court of the National Tennis Center in the Chinese capital, took a back seat despite Wada’s announcement being made in the middle of the match. «I am convinced that I will prove innocentbut it’s not easy, because I thought the case was over. But it still isn’t and I can’t control everything”, replied Sinner, regarding the impact of the global anti-doping action on his activities and the continuation of the tournament. «I at least try to concentrate as much as possible on tennis, as much as I can. It’s not very simple at the moment,” admitted the number one tennis player on the planet.
«Let’s see what comes out, we had three auditions and I came out innocent. And this is very positive. You can never change some things.” For this reason, «I am quite confident that it will be the same this time, that it will turn out that I am innocent. I think it is obvious” given that “in my head I know that I have done nothing wrong, nothing wrong”. However, “now let’s see what the CAS will say, which is the last hearing”. On Wada’s appeal, Sinner has claimed to have known it “privately for a few days, a couple of days”. And this perhaps explains the uncertainties shown in the debut match in Beijing against the Chilean Nicolas Jarry, who also won in a comeback by 2 sets to 1. «I’m surprised, yes – he reiterated, but I also knew that it could happen. In short, it was known, we all know it. But, I repeat, there is the last hearing. Let’s also see when it will be because we don’t know yet.” In other words, the Italian concluded, “I am surprised, but I am quite convinced that there will be the same conclusion as all the other hearings” held so far on the Clostebol affair. The Diamond, this time full for well over half of its 15,000 places, gave him first a warm hug and then a long applause when he said he had to improve his tennis as he approached the final and a standing ovation, finally, when Sinner launched five autographed balls with his racket to open the match with a double fault and made it his own with an ace: the extreme points, summary of the delicate passage he is going through, “not very simple”.