Jannik Sinner finds himself out of action until early May, having agreed to a three-month suspension for his failed drugs tests last season.
Sinner’s ban won’t influence Carlos Alcaraz, who is behind the Italian and Alexander Zverev in the ATP rankings.
Stan Wawrinka has reacted angrily to Sinner’s ban, which sees the latter miss tournaments from February 9 to May 4.
Sinner can return to official training activity from April 13, with the Australian Open champion back in time for the French Open on May 19, and indeed the ATP Masters 1000 Rome earlier that month.
The Italian successfully defended his title in Melbourne last month, which represented his third career Grand Slam title.
Andrea Petkovic questions why Jannik Sinner has been banned
Sinner accepted the three-month ban in a case resolution agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), a situation that has left former player Andrea Petkovic with an important question to ask.
“I think that is the problem [that the deal was negotiated],” Petkovic said on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.
“The problem is that it now feels like chances and options to bargain, that you can go into settlement. That is the problem.
“WADA too believes that Jannik Sinner did not intentionally dope or use performance-enhancing drugs. This is where I still react as a player to it. If you decide he has not cheated, why are we banning him?
“What are we doing? If you decide it’s still a little bit fishy and we want to get to the bottom of this, that’s another story.
“There are protocols and processes that need to be followed. But if you decide as WADA, that he hasn’t doped, what are we doing? Why are we banning him?
“This is a political decision. This has nothing to do with sports. This is strictly sports politics. In politics there is one party who wants one thing and there is another who wants another.
“A compromise will be found and nobody is happy and that’s exactly what has happened. This is a compromise and nobody is happy and we have to deal with it.”
Three-month Jannik Sinner WADA agreement sets dangerous precedent
Sinner tested positive for banned substance clostebol back in March 2024, but argued that he had been inadvertently contaminated by his physio Giacomo Naldi.
WADA then lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in September, after the Italian was found to bear no fault by an independent tribunal.
READ MORE: Daniil Medvedev responds after Jannik Sinner accepts three month ban
A two-year ban was sought after by WADA, who have now instead reached a three-month agreement with the world number one.
And as Petkovic alluded to, a dangerous precedent has now been set, whereby players can seemingly reach settlements as a way of avoiding more strict punishments.
It will also leave many players to have been previously banned for failed drugs tests angry and frustrated that they were not able to achieve similar outcomes.
The timing of the ban meanwhile is another story entirely, with Sinner able to fight for the French Open title after being able to successfully defend his Australian Open crown last month.
Also among those reacting to the news was Liam Broady, with the Briton’s verdict on X reposted by Nick Kyrgios.
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