Goffin reacts to Sinner’s ban: “In the past, they were really strict; now it seems you can have negotiations”

The Belgian highlighted the state of confusion the tennis world has been in after Jannik Sinner was handed a three-month ban by WADA

Julien Nouet / UTS

Ayush Vashistha

February 17, 2025

Former world No 7 David Goffin on Sunday registered his reaction to Jannik Sinner‘s suspension in the Indian Wells 2024 drugs case. WADA punished Sinner with a three-month ban nearly a year after he tested positive for clostebol twice.

Goffin failed against Czechia’s Tomas Machac in the UTS Guadalajara final. In a media interaction following the loss, the Belgian voiced his opinion on Sinner’s trial, highlighting the state of confusion the tennis world has been in during the entire investigation.

“I think my opinion is that, and probably most of the players, we don’t really understand what is happening,” he said. “Especially at the beginning of the year last year, we don’t know what happened with Jannik. He continued to play and then decided to announce that it was a positive test and before that he continued to play. And then now it was supposed to be the final decision and since then there were negotiations. Now he accept like a three-month suspension. For us, it’s just not understandable.”

Jannik Sinner’s statement on his 3-month suspension from tennis. pic.twitter.com/k7sBxd1tL0
— Michal Samulski (@MichalSamulski) February 15, 2025

The Guadalajara runner-up hoped the anti-doping agencies would treat similar potential cases in the same way as Sinner’s.

“So, we will see what’s gonna be in the future if there is the same case. Because in the past, they were really strict. If you have something in your blood or urine, you’re stopped to play directly and we see if you have a suspension or not. Now, it seems that you can have negotiations and try to speak to them. So, I don’t know, we’ll see what’s gonna happen and it’s just weird what happened.”