While almost the entire world is showering praise on Yannick Sinner after his title defense at the Australian Open, Germany's most widely circulated newspaper Bild has sharply attacked the Italian, whose native language is German.
The article in the publication is titled "Triumph with a taste of doping".
The day before the final, Bild wrote that Alexander Zverev (Germany) would already be world number one if it weren't for the farce of the Sinner trial after he tested positive for two drugs in Indian Wells last March.
"The fact that Sinner is in his second consecutive Grand Slam final, after the US Open, is a farce for many tennis players, pundits and tennis observers, and it is highly unusual that he is being allowed to defend his title," the German tabloid wrote. Given that Sinner is from South Tyrol, the northern part of Italy near the Austrian border, a part that once belonged to Austria-Hungary, and that German is practically his native language, many believe that this was an attempt to destabilize Sinner, because it is very likely that the text was delivered to him before Sunday's final.
"Bild" recalls that Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios were the main critics "who criticized the procedure in this doping case", recalling that the Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) did not act as in previous cases and Sinner was allowed to play while the investigation is ongoing. In other situations, tennis players have been immediately suspended and have not played until the case is resolved. And theoretically, Sinner's case is still unresolved, as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.
"The case was published five months after the positive findings, the decision on the WADA appeal is scheduled for April 16-17 and a suspension of up to two years has been requested," the publication writes. And here is Bild's conclusion: "If the whole thing had not been covered up, Zverev would have become number 1 long ago." Or if Sinner had not been in the final, Zverev might have won his first Grand Slam title. Because we should not forget that the decision on the WADA appeal was originally supposed to be at the end of December, but was postponed several times and in the end mid-April was chosen. Bild believes that the whole case was being considered with its eyes closed. "Sinner says he is not guilty. "This is simply incredible. He could have told himself what was happening. No one could have stopped him from doing this. That way he would have been at least more honest," the publication says at the end. I BGNES
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