Jannik Sinner's sublime tennis season awaits CAS ruling on WADA appeal

Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, true The Athletics will explain the stories behind the stories of the past week on the track.

This week, Jannik Sinner closed out 2024 on the ATP Tour with an unreturned serve and arms raised, just as he has spent much of the tennis season. World No. 1 and a renewed Matteo Berrettini secured a 2-0 victory for Italy against the Netherlands in the Davis Cup final in Malaga, Spain, beating Tallon Greekpoor and Botic Van de Zandschulp respectively.

Elsewhere, US college tennis discovered its 2024 singles champions and a doubles leader retired.

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How do you account for a stunning season with one very big asterisk?

On Sunday, Sinner completed one of the greatest seasons in history. Two Grand Slam titles, the ATP Finals and now the Davis Cup with Italy. He ends the year 3,915 points ahead of world No. 2 Alexander Zverev despite playing four fewer tournaments, and his 73–6 win-loss record makes him the first player since Andy Murray in 2016 to have more than 70 wins in booked a season. He didn't lose a match in straight sets all year.

Phenomenal in every way, but what comes next is beyond his control.

The 23-year-old could be banned from tennis for up to two years if the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) accepts the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) appeal in the Sinners doping case. He tested positive for clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid, on March 10 at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, and out of competition on March 18.

An independent tribunal, convened by the ITIA and led by Sports Resolutions, ruled at a hearing on August 15 that Sinner bore no fault or negligence for those positive tests, but still ruled that Sinner had committed two anti-doping violations, for which he was stripped of his punishment. its ranking points, prize money and Indian Wells results. It accepted the Italian world number 1's statement that Sinner's physiotherapist Umberto Ferrara had brought an over-the-counter healing spray containing clostebol to Indian Wells. His trainer, physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi, cut his hand and then used the spray on that cut. Naldi then performed massages on Sinner, leading to transdermal contamination with the clostebol from the healing spray.

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Jannik Sinner's doping case explained: what WADA's appeal means and what's at stake for tennis

A month later, WADA announced that it was contesting this ruling because it believed that the finding of no fault or negligence was incorrect under the applicable rules.

Sinner and the tennis world are in limbo, knowing he is either at the dawn of a potential era of dominance or an extended period away from the sport.

It's a bit in the head, Sinner said at a press conference on Sunday, when he was asked whether he could fully enjoy the Davis Cup victory in Italy.

The most important thing is that all the people who know me trust me. That's why I kept playing at the level I was. I've had some ups and downs, and I was a little heartbroken emotionally, but sometimes life throws you curveballs and you just have to face it.

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The crowd of Turin: the sea of ​​green, white, red and orange by Jannik Sinner

Charlie Eccleshare

Elena Vesnina retires from tennis

Amid the turmoil surrounding Rafael Nadal's retirement, a four-time Grand Slam champion also left the sport. Vesnina, who won three majors in women's doubles and one major in mixed doubles, announced the end of her career this week after playing a final match at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris with Ekaterina Alexandrova, in which she competed as an Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs).

Vesnina, 38, also won Olympic gold for Russia at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro with Ekaterina Makarova, with whom she won her three main draws in women's doubles. Vesnina won a total of 19 doubles titles and reached world number 1 together with Makarova in 2018. An accomplished singles player, she won the 2017 Indian Wells title, beating Venus Williams and Angelique Kerber to help her reach a career high of world number one. 13.

Indian Wells was Elena Vesnina's third and final singles title (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Vesnina and Makarova won their last title together at the 2018 Madrid Open, with Vesnina taking time off from tennis to give birth to her first child that year. She returned to tennis in 2021, reaching the Wimbledon final with Veronika Kudermetova and winning a silver medal in mixed doubles with Aslan Karatsev at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo. She did not play in 2022 and 2023, when she gave birth to her second child, before briefly returning to the court in 2024.

Thanks to this beautiful sport. I learned so much about myself and about the world, Vesnina wrote on Instagram.

James Hansen

Where will this year's NCAA tennis champions go?

You might not think that anything major happened in tennis on American soil this weekend. You'd be wrong. The NCAA crowned two collegiate singles champions, Michael Zheng of Columbia University in New York City and Dasha Vidmanova of Georgia. The NCAA has moved the individual tournaments to the fall this season in an effort to avoid overloading players participating in the team competitions in the spring.

Zheng, a native of New Jersey who attended high school at Delbarton, the highly ranked private school, defeated Michigan State's Ozan Baris 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. He is the first men's singles champion from the Ivy League since 1922, and the first champion from Columbia since 1906. That was a long time ago.

Vidmanova, a 21-year-old from the Czech Republic, defeated DJ Bennet of Auburn, Al, 6-3, 6-3, highlighting the increasingly international nature of college tennis in the past decade.

Why is all this important? Both players are competing in the USTA men's and women's play-offs for a wild card into the main draw of the US Open.

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What led to dissatisfaction about Nadal's retirement?

Nadal's retirement from tennis led to an outpouring of emotions, but not everyone was so charmed by the way his farewell was handled. The latest flourish saw Nadal speak on court and play a video featuring testimonials from tennis legends Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, as well as Spanish sports stars such as football stars Raul and Andres Iniesta, and the golfer Sergio Garcia.

In interviews with Spanish media, Toni, Nadal's uncle and former coach, claimed the farewell ceremony fell short of expectations, while Spain's Davis Cup captain David Ferrer called it a bit sad and watered down. Nadals coach Carlos Moya told Radioestadio Noche that he thought it was a bit shabby and shabby.

When all this was put to Feliciano Lopez, the Davis Cup tournament director and a friend and former doubles partner of Nadal, at a press conference on Sunday, he said: We should focus on how Rafa chose the Davis Cup as the final tournament of his career. career instead of continuing to talk about his retirement ceremony. We have done our best.

Rafael Nadal's retirement from tennis took center stage in the Davis Cup (Jorge Guerrero/AFP via Getty Images)

The ceremony is the tip of the iceberg in the sea of ​​awkwardness and uncertainty that surrounded Nadal's finals campaign and the Spanish Davis Cup. All most fans really cared about was Nadal and his retirement, but it led to speculation about whether Ferrer's priority was getting Spain as far as possible or just getting Nadal on the pitch. A pair of disappointing defeats for Spain led to more discussion about tennis retirements and what could have been the best time to part ways with Nadal.

The fortunes of the team and the player do not always align. Federer, Andy Murray and Nadal took their final bows in team events, each under different conditions.

Novak Djokovic, who is entering the final years of his career at the age of 37, may notice this.

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'Rafa is part of us': what Rafael Nadal means to Spain

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Shot of the week

Greek Spoor did not win the match against Sinner, but they did win the pick-up volleyball competition.

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The winners of the week

ATP:

Italy Certainly. The Netherlands 2-0 to win Daviscup in Malaga, Spain. It is the second Davis Cup title in a row for Italy.

WTA:

Italy Certainly. Slovakia 2-0 to win Billie Jean King cup in Malaga, Spain. It is the first time Italy has won the women's Premier Team tournament since 2013, when it was known as the Federation Cup.

Emerging in 2024

Naomi Osaka started the year at number 833 in the world. She ends the season at number 60, up 733 places.
Jacob Fearnley At the beginning of 2024 he was number 646 in the world. He ends the season at number 98, up 548 places.
Amanda Anismova returned to the top 40 and finished the season at number 36. At the start of it she was number 359 in the world, up 323 places.

Tell us what you noticed this week in the comments below.

(Top photo: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)