Rafael Nadal: ‘I don’t believe that Sinner has ever wanted to dope’

Tennis legend Rafael Nadal defended current World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the wake of the Italian's positive test for a banned steroid and subsequent light punishment.

Speaking on the TV show "El Hormiguero" in his native Spain, Nadal said he didn't believe Sinner meant to take the banned substance and further asserted that the governing bodies weren't going easy on the Italian just because of his No. 1 status.

"I have a virtue or a deficit, which is that in the end I usually believe in people's good faith," Nadal said, per Reuters. "I know Sinner, I don't believe that Sinner has ever wanted to dope."

It was revealed before the start of the U.S. Open that Sinner twice tested positive for clostebol in March, but he did not receive a suspension by the International Tennis Integrity Agency because an independent tribunal determined Sinner did not know he absorbed the steroid.

It was found that a support team member was using an over-the-counter spray that contained the substance to treat his own wound, and he passed it into Sinner's system through massage therapy performed without gloves.

Sinner still had to forfeit the ranking points and prize money he earned at Indian Wells, the ATP Masters 1000 event in California where he was drug tested. But some of his peers felt there was a double standard at play, that a lesser player would have been suspended.

"I'm totally confident that if he has not been sanctioned, it is because those who have had to judge this case have seen very clearly that there were no sanctions to be imposed," Nadal said. "I do not believe that because he is Sinner he will not be sanctioned, and because he is someone else he will be sanctioned. I really believe it and I am convinced of it."

Nadal, 38, is a 22-time Grand Slam title winner. He withdrew from the U.S. Open before it began due to health reasons.

Sinner, the top seed in New York, will face No. 14 seed Tommy Paul of the U.S. on Monday night in the final match of the fourth round.

--Field Level Media