Several fellow ATP players have been critical of Jannik Sinner–or least of the system in general–in wake of the world No. 1’s three-month ban from tennis stemming from a positive Clostebol test dating back to the 2024 Indian Wells Masters. Nick Kyrgios has been the most outspoken against Sinner, himself, while Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka are among those who have expressed displeasure with the stystem.
Casper Ruud, however, is definitely pro Sinner on the matter.
Ruud was asked about his thoughts on the Italian’s suspension by Ben Rothenberg at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel earlier this week.
“I feel sorry for Jannik,” the Norwegian said. “He has, in my view, not done anything intentionally.
“When you look at the [legal system], it’s not unusual that it happens when someone is about to go to trial. I mean, there’s many other cases where settlements happened just before a trial. So, my understanding, if I was in Jannik’s shoes, of course I would loved to have the possibility to defend myself in an open trial, which I’m sure he was going for. But when you go trial, there is…always a risk that you might be found guilty–even if you aren’t guilty–if the juries or the judges see things in a different way. I mean, look at how many cases in the world someone has gone to jail when he wasn’t guilty, or she wasn’t guilty. So there’s always a risk that you might be found guilty even though you aren’t.
“So a settlement of three months–or a suspension of three months–was something that both were happy to do. Still, I feel sorry for Jannik. He will miss four out of nine Masters 1000s for something he didn’t intentionally do.
“So I hope he keeps his head high. Me personally, I’m always rooting for him. I think it’s a joy to watch him play, and I hope the three months go by quickly for him. Yeah, it’s just sad for him, and tennis as a sport, when the world No. 1 goes through something like this. And, yeah, I guess that’s kind of my thought about it at the moment.”
Sinner is eligible to return the second week of May. He will miss Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, and Rome.
Meanwhile, Ruud withdrew from Acapulco on Wednesday due to illness and will now make his way to Indian Wells.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.