Jannik Sinner's doping case: A complete timeline of how it unfolded, on and off the court

News of Jannik Sinner’s doping case was made public just ahead of last year’s US Open, but it was weighing on the 23-year-old’s mind for much longer. Now, he’s ready to put the whole ordeal behind him after accepting a 90-day suspension period as a part of his settlement with WADA on Saturday.

Though Sinner was initially found to bear “no fault or negligence” by the ITIA after testing positive for clostebol, an anabolic steroid, in March, WADA’s appeal arguing that he should be held responsible for his team’s actions meant he faced up to a two-year suspension. Instead, Sinner will be sidelined from February 9 until May 4—or in tennis terms, from shortly after the Australian Open to just before Roland Garros.

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So how did we get here? Here’s a complete timeline of how Sinner’s doping case unfolded off the court—all while completing during one of the most dominant tennis seasons ever:

The calm before “the pressure storm”

• January 28, 2024: World No. 4 Jannik Sinner wins his first Grand Slam at the Australian Open, defeating Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev en route to the title.

• February 12: Fitness trainer Umberto Ferrara purchases Trofodermin, an over-the-counter spray for cuts containing the anabolic steroid clostebol, at a pharmacy in Bologna, Italy. Clostebol is a banned substance on WADA’s prohibited list, but the spray is legal and readily available in Italy.

• March 3: Physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi cuts his left pinkie finger on a scalpel normally used to treat calluses on players’ feet. After bandaging it for two days, Naldi uses the spray—provided to him by fitness trainer Ferrara—every day for the next nine days as he gives Sinner daily full-body massages without wearing gloves.

Sinner tests positive, and receives provisional suspension

• March 10: Naldi is spotted with a bandaged finger during Sinner’s third-round match against Jan-Lennard Struff at the BNP Paribas Open. That evening Sinner submits two in-competition urine samples, which both test positive for clostebol.

• March 16: No. 3 seed Sinner bows out in the Indian Wells semifinals to Carlos Alcaraz.

• March 18: Ahead of the Miami Open, Sinner provides an out-of-competition urine sample which also tests positive for clostebol.

• March 31: No. 2 seed Sinner lifts his second Masters 1000 trophy in Miami.

• April 4: Sinner is formally notified by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) of an “adverse analytical finding” (AAF) and automatically handed a provisional suspension. On the same day, Sinner responds with an urgent application for the suspension to be lifted after his team identified the source of the contamination.

• April 5: The provisional ban is lifted.

• April 13: No. 2 seed Sinner reaches semifinals of the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo.

• April 17: Sinner is informed of another AAF, and responds with another successful urgent application for his automatic provisional suspension to be lifted.

• April 20: The provisional ban is lifted.

Sinner argues his case while dominating ATP Tour

• May 1 & 4: Sinner withdraws from the Madrid quarterfinals and pulls out of Rome, citing a hip injury.

• May 30: The ITIA formally charges Sinner—while he is competing at Roland Garros, where he’d reach the semifinals—with anti-doping violations.

• June 4: Sinner rises to world No. 1, becoming the first Italian player ever to hold the top position in the tour rankings.

• June 18: Sinner makes his debut in Halle, his first tournament as world No. 1. He defeats Tallon Griekspoor in his opening match, and goes on to win the title.

• June 19: Sinner’s legal team, led by Jamie Singer of Onside Law, submits documents with detailed explanations of the circumstances of the positive tests. Sinner argues that he was inadvertently exposed to the steroid in part due to a skin condition called psoriasiform dermatitis, which causes itchy skin resulting in “various skin lesions” on his body.

• July 9: Sinner reaches the Wimbledon quarterfinals, where he loses to Daniil Medvedev.

• July 24: Sinner pulls out of the Olympics citing tonsillitis: “After a good week of clay training, I started to feel unwell. I spent a couple of days resting and during a visit the doctor found tonsillitis and strongly advised me against playing.”

• August 15: The case is heard by an independent tribunal as Sinner competes in the Cincinnati Open.

• August 18: According to Renzo Furlan, coach of Jasmine Paolini, Sinner attends an ITIA hearing from 4 a.m. to 10 a.m. ahead of the Cincinnati semifinals. He is acquitted, and then defeats Alexander Zverev in a match tiebreak.

• August 19: No. 1 seed Sinner defeats Frances Tiafoe in the Cincinnati Open final for his second Masters 1000 title of the year.

• August 20: News of the doping case is revealed to the public for the first time, after an independent tribunal finds Sinner bore “no fault or negligence” for the positive tests. He is stripped of his money and points from Indian Wells, though the secretive nature of the proceedings draws heavy criticism from figures in the tennis world and beyond.

"I will now put this challenging and deeply unfortunate period behind me," Sinner wrote on social media.

• August 23: Sinner announces that he is parting ways with physiotherapist Naldi and fitness trainer Ferrara.

WADA files an appeal

• September 8: Amid a swirl of confusion, criticism and discourse, Sinner arrives at the US Open as the top seed and heavy favorite, and wins his second Grand Slam title.

• September 26: As Sinner competes at the China Open in Beijing, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) files an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) seeking a ban of one to two years. While not looking to disqualify any of his results, the agency argues the finding that Sinner bore “no fault or negligence” is incorrect.

• October, November: Sinner dominates the fall by reaching the Beijing final and winning his seventh title of the year in Shanghai. He pulls out of the Paris Masters due to illness, and then goes undefeated at the Nitto ATP Finals and Davis Cup.

• November 15: ATP Tour chairman Andrea Gaudenzi admits there “could have been better communication” explaining the rules involved in Sinner’s case, but slams accusations of favoritism: “The rules have been the same.”

• January 10, 2025: Sinner gets his court date as CAS schedules a closed-doors hearing for April 16-17 in its Switzerland headquarters.

• January 11 & 12: The ITIA hosts two open-door informational sessions while on site at the Australian Open to discuss the recent high-profile cases involving Sinner and Iga Swiatek. The only player to attend is Christopher Eubanks.

• January 26: World No. 1 Sinner defends his Australian Open title and lifts his third Grand Slam trophy.

WADA & Sinner reach a settlement

• February 9: Sinner’s period of ineligibility begins. According to WADA’s Code, Sinner is not allowed to compete at sanctioned tennis events or train with professional players, and he’s barred from accessing any facility that hosts a professional tennis event or is affiliated with the Italian Tennis Federation.

• February 13: Sinner is seen training with Jiri Lehechka at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in Doha, which hosts the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. He leads the entry list at the 500-level event that starts on Feburary 17.

• February 15: WADA announces that the agency has reached a settlement in the appeal against Sinner, who accepts a 90-day suspension for his “responsibility for the entourage’s negligence.” The ineligibility period includes a four-day credit for time previously served under two provisional suspensions in April.

Sinner is forced to withdraw from Doha, and is seen leaving the practice courts in a video shared by the Qatar Tennis Federation.

• March 2: Sinner is scheduled to compete at the MGM Rewards Slam, an exhibition event in Las Vegas, alongside Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, Naomi Osaka and others.

• April 13: According to WADA, this is the earliest date that Sinner is cleared to resume training with his team and sparring with registered players.

• May 4: Sinner’s period of ineligibility ends.

• May 7: Main-draw action begins in Rome, with Roland Garros set to start on May 25.