Jannik Sinner releases statement about World Anti-Doping Agency's appeal

There are many different ways of looking at the Jannik Sinner doping situation. One, of course, is whether he intentionally took something to help increase his performance. He says he did not, and the International Tennis Integrity Agency agreed with him after a review. Therefore, Sinner was not suspended, and the only thing he lost was the money and ranking points he earned at Indian Wells.

Some have argued Sinner should have been suspended first and then after being proven innocent after a review only then could he start playing again. This has been the situation with others players such as Simona Halep. Some see Sinner not being initially suspended as a sign that he received unfair treatment in his favor.

There have been arguments that Sinner should be suspended because even though he allegedly tested positive - his physio had applied a rub which had a banned substance in it - it was from a member of his team which Sinner overseas. He is guilty because his team was guilty.

Jannik Sinner releases statement about the World Anti-Doping Agency appealing his case

The bottom line, though, is that Sinner is able to play tennis and would continue to play unless something new popped up and that something new did. The World Anti-Doping Agency has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport to review the Sinner case and requested he be suspended for 1-2 years.

One might wonder what the WADA sees as a potential outcome to their appeal since several judges have found Sinner innocent already. The issue, of course, is greater than Sinner. Should the CAS rule in the WADA's favor then that would be an indictment of how tennis handles doping case and could make the sport look unclean. That could gravely hurt the trust fans have in the sport.

As a human being, one wants the right thing to be done. As a tennis fan, one might hope that the WADA is extremely wrong. We do not want to doubt the sport we love, though if tennis did handle the Sinner situation incorrectly then a change needs to certainly occur.

Sinner offered a statement soon after the WADA's appeal was announced. The statement said, "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. Several months of interviews and investigations culminated in three senior judges scrutinizing every detail through a formal hearing."

Sinner also said he understands processes after to be followed, but he did not understand what the WADA was hoping to accomplish. He had already been found innocent.

He added, "This being 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. As the case is now pending before CAS, I won’t comment further."

More tennis news and analysis: