The tennis world has reacted to the shocking news concerning reigning Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner having tested positive twice for an anabolic steroid during Indian Wells in March. Sinner's physio, Giacomo Naldi, used massage cream to treat his Italian compatriot, cutting his finger and operating the substance onto his wound - ultimately finding a way to enter Sinner's system which was deemed to be less than a billionth of a gram. Despite avoiding suspension, the 23-year-old has been docked 400 ranking points and $325,000 worth of prize money he earned at the Masters tournament. "I will now put this challenging and deeply unfortunate period behind me," Sinner said in a statement. "I will continue to do everything I can to ensure I continue to comply with the ITIA’s anti-doping (program) and I have a team around me that are meticulous in their own compliance." Backlash soon followed after the news broke, with controversial star Nick Kyrgios voicing his disagreement with the outcome. "Ridiculous - whether it was accidental or planned. You get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance... you should be gone for 2 years. Your performance was enhanced. Massage cream... yeah nice." Canadian star Denis Shapovalov said: "Different rules for different players," moments after he sent out a separate tweet that read: "Can't imagine what every other player that got banned for contaminated substances is feeling right now." Former world No.41 Tennys Sandgren did not mince his words, saying: "This is ridiculous lmfao... second hand steroids through a massage?? ATP always look out for their money makers. Good for business, bad for transparency and integrity." Seven hours later, the American sent out another tweet once he learned new information: "Aight the Sinner explanation does seem pretty plausible, which is great, but how this was handled really doesn't seem fair compared to other players whatsoever." Australian Olympian John Millman was quick to pump the breaks and defend the world No.1 with his comment on X:
"Before jumping to conclusions, Jannik Sinner had less than a billionth of a gram in his system...I believe him 100 per cent.. maybe we should change the threshold cater for contamination. Finally, why the uproar for this when we allow athletes in all sports, including tennis, to abuse TUE's?"
Millman replied to his own tweet, adding: "Furthermore, the ITIA handled this 1000x better than the butcher job with Simona [Halep]... Jannik is about as good a person that exists on tour. At least read the report before you pass judgement." Sinner's coach, Darren Cahill, spoke to ESPN's Chris McKendry about the situation and defended his player. "Jannik would never do anything intentionally," Cahill said. "He was in an unfortunate situation. The truth came out, he was not at fault or negligent, and I hope he can move past this, play, and improve. "There would have been a big change in his physical appearance and enthusiasm for being on the court, but it wore him down physically and mentally, he had tonsillitis and missed the Olympics. We are not expecting any punishment, we are just grateful that there is no sanction."
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