ITIA: Jannik Sinner, world number 1 tennis player, cleared of any wrongdoing after failed doping tests

Naldi was unaware that the product he used on his cut contained clostebol, Sinner said. Clostebol is a steroid that can be used to build muscle.

Sinner, who has always maintained his innocence, said the amount of clostebol found in his body was less than a billionth of a gram.

“I will now put this challenging and deeply unhappy time behind me,” the 23-year-old said in a statement posted on social media.

Sinner's first positive sample was taken on March 10, and a second eight days later. Each time he tested positive, he was provisionally suspended, but after his team lodged an urgent appeal, he was allowed to continue playing.

“Sinner's results, prize money and ranking points from the ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells, where the player tested positive for clostebol in competition, will be disqualified,” ITIA said in a statement, citing the rules of the World Anti-Doping Code and the Tennis Anti-Doping Program.

Sinner will lose the prize money of 325,000 US dollars and the 400 ranking points he earned at the tournament in California, where his first positive doping test took place.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said it would review the decision and reserved the right to appeal.

Sinner, who turned 23 on Friday, won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January. He reached the semifinals of the French Open in June and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in July before skipping the Paris Olympics because he was suffering from tonsillitis.

The men's ATP Tour said the saga “underscores the need for players and their entourage to exercise extreme caution when using any products or treatments.”

Sinner is the latest tennis player to be involved in a doping case after two-time major champion Simona Halep's four-year doping ban was reduced to nine months this year after she tested positive for a banned substance at the 2022 US Open.

Halep argued that she had inadvertently ingested the blood sugar enhancer roxadustat through contaminated dietary supplements.

As the top-ranked player in the world, Sinner had already expected the spotlight to be on him when he arrived in New York for the final major of the year, which begins on Monday.

But a day after he won a key preparatory tournament for the US Open in Cincinnati, the saga attracted additional attention.

“It's certainly surprising and shocking at the moment, especially for me, since it apparently happened in March,” said seven-time major winner and ESPN analyst John McEnroe.

“I don't know how they differentiate between a person who says they were unaware of it and the reasons, and then someone else who says the same thing gets suspended.”

Australian player Nick Kyrgios sharply criticized Sinner’s decision.

“Ridiculous – whether it was accidental or planned. You get tested twice for a banned substance… You should be out for two years. Your performance has been enhanced. Massage cream…. Yeah, nice,” Kyrgios said on X.

Canadian Denis Shapovalov wrote on social media: “I can't imagine what every other player who was banned for contaminated substances is feeling now.”

The main draw of the US Open begins on August 26th.