Jannik Sinner has declared he’s “not guilty” and played with a clear mind at the Australian Open, despite having a potential two-year ban hanging over his head. The Italian World No.1 defended his Australian Open crown on Sunday night and claimed his third career grand slam title, beating Alexander Zverev 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.

The tennis world is marvelling at how well Sinner played at Melbourne Park over the last two weeks, after he joined Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as just the third man in the Open era to win three-straight majors on hard courts (2024 Australian, 2024 US Open and 2025 Australian Open). But the World No.1’s future is shrouded in uncertainty, and there’s every chance he won’t be playing the next grand slam at the French Open in May.

The Italian star is set to face the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland in April, with the World Anti-Doping Agency pushing for a two-year suspension. Sinner twice tested positive to banned steroid Clostebol last March, but the International Tennis Federation cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Why is Jannik Sinner facing a two-year suspension?

The ITF accepted that Sinner was unintentionally contaminated after his now-sacked masseur applied a steroid spray to his own finger before massaging Sinner without gloves on. The banned drug then entered Sinner’s system via a skin condition that meant he had an open sore on his back.

Sinner successfully appealed a provisional suspension and was allowed to keep playing, and the ITF later cleared him. But WADA – the world’s top anti-doping agency – has appealed that decision and taken the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

WADA have accepted that Sinner didn’t intentionally dope, but believe he should be suspended due to negligence. There’s a chain of thought that professional athletes should be responsible for the entire team they employ, including making sure everyone knows what substances they can and can’t have on them.

WADA are pushing for a maximum ban of two years – the same punishment Australian swimmer Shayna Jack received after she proved she ingested a banned drug without knowing. Jack was initially banned four years before it was slashed in half on appeal.

Jannik Sinner’s defiant response before CAS hearing

Speaking in his post-match press conference on Sunday night, Sinner said he didn’t have any extra motivation to win the Australian Open because of it. “Not really. What happened has happened now,” he said. “I keep playing like this because I have a clear mind on what happened.

“If I knew I was guilty I would not play like this, and that’s it. I still believe it’s going to be a positive outcome (at the CAS hearing). At the moment I’m not thinking about this. Of course there are moments on certain days when you wish you didn’t have this problem.”

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In addition to his two Australian Open titles and last year’s US Open trophy, Sinner also won the season-ending ATP Finals championship and spearheaded Italy to Davis Cup glory in 2024. Yet he is vowing to get even better in 2025 and beyond.

“Maybe the second serve could be a little bit more aggressive and trying to sneak into the net a little bit more,” he said. “For sure, there are some areas where I can improve. I also want to be a better player. I’m not only seeing the result. It is important in one year’s time to say ‘OK, I have improved as a player’ and that is much more important.”

with AAP