Daria Kasatkina declares Jannik Sinner innocent as she admits to Italian’s advantage in doping scandal
Daria Kasatkina defended Jannik Sinner following his doping scandal and said this hiring the best lawyers helped him clear his name quickly.
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Jannik Sinner, Daria Kasatkina (Images via Imago, Tennis.com)
Russian WTA star Daria Kasatkina has admitted that Italian ace Jannik Sinner had some advantage in the doping scandal but has declared that the ATP World No. 1 is innocent. Kasatkina came to the Sinner’s defense after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) was accused of giving him an unfair advantage in his doping case.
Kasatkina rubbished the claims of ITIA’s double standards and said that Sinner got an advantage because he could hire the best lawyers. She also cited her coach’s example and said that getting the best lawyers was Sinner’s advantage and there was nothing beyond that.
That part, you asked if I believed he was innocent and I do. Double standards? Jannik is able to hire the best lawyers…people who will have it all figured out. That's undoubtedly his advantage. I have an Italian coach and he knows other incidents that we are not aware of.Daria Kasatkina said about Jannik Sinner doping scandal
The Russian further claimed that there were two more athletes – a male and a female – in Italy who were banned for the same drug. Kasatkina recalled that the male athlete, just like Sinner, got out because he came out with an explanation in 24 days while the female athlete could not figure it out and hence suffered. However, Kasatkina cannot understand how the Italian athletes keep testing positive for the same drug.
Daria Kasatkina recalls her doping test mishap
While talking about Jannik Sinner‘s doping scandal and dismissing any scope of doubles standards from the ITIA, Daria Kasatkina recalled her doping test mishap to explain how strict the rules are. The Russian claimed that she was immediately sent a strike via email for missing a test because she went to practice.
I had a mishap last year in Indian Wells. I always set the slot for 6-7 am. But we had an early practice on one day. And I must leave the hotel in advance. And it was during the tournament. So I left hotel and I get the notice by email saying 'you've missed this and that….'. they didn't call me on my phone, they stopped by my hotel, called my room, saw I wasn't there and left. They don't put any effort in and go 'That's it, that's a strike'.Daria Kasatkina said
Kasatkina said that these strict rules make players anxious as they are constantly worried about what’s next. Notably, the ITIA is quite strict with its guidelines about the whereabouts. There are several consequences to not providing accurate whereabouts information.
Submitting whereabouts after the quarterly deadline and not being present at the location indicated in ADAMS without a valid reason may lead to a Filing Failure. Further, any combination of three whereabouts failures (Filing Failure and/or Missed Test) within a 12-month period may constitute an Anti-Doping Rule Violation and a potential two-year ban from the sport.
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Ritesh Pathak
(2150 Articles Published)