{"id":19704,"date":"2025-04-30T11:26:43","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T07:26:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/?p=19704"},"modified":"2025-04-30T11:26:49","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T07:26:49","slug":"rafael-nadal-tells-cnn-exclusively-that-he-100-believes-jannik-sinner-is-innocent-amid-return-from-doping-suspension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/rafael-nadal-tells-cnn-exclusively-that-he-100-believes-jannik-sinner-is-innocent-amid-return-from-doping-suspension\/","title":{"rendered":"Rafael Nadal Tells CNN Exclusively That He \u2018100%\u2019 Believes Jannik Sinner Is Innocent Amid Return From Doping Suspension"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In an exclusive interview with CNN\u2019s\u00a0Amanda Davies<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0at the Laureus World Sports Awards, Spanish tennis legend\u00a0Rafael Nadal<\/strong>\u00a0says he completely trusts that world No. 1 Jannik Sinner is innocent, as the Italian prepares to return from a doping suspension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The saga around Sinner has shone the spotlight on the current anti-doping protocols in tennis, with several players raising concerns about possible preferential treatment for the top stars. Nadal tells Davies, \u201cThe saga around Sinner has shone the spotlight on the current anti-doping protocols in tennis, with several players raising concerns about possible preferential treatment for the top stars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 22-time grand slam singles champion retired from tennis last year, and reflects on the legacy he left behind, \u201cOf course, I will be remembered as a good tennis player, but for me, it\u2019s important to be remembered as a good person, a player who fights as hard as possible but with positive values, being always fair and correct with everyone on court.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Quotes from Nadal<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On whether he believes the currently suspended Jannik Sinner is innocent following his doping suspension:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a clear opinion, first of all, because I don\u2019t have the whole information. First of all, I 100% believe that Jannik is innocent. I don\u2019t think at all that Jannik wanted to do something that is not allowed, so I 100% believe in Jannik. Second, talking about all the process\u2026 As I said, for me, I believe in justice. For some reason we have the justice there that they have to make the decisions. They have all the information that probably no one of us have and they make the decisions. From my point of view, I really don\u2019t believe that Jannik, because he\u2019s the No. 1 in the world, received different treatment than another person, from my perspective and from my understanding. That\u2019s what I can say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On whether what treatment he hopes Jannik Sinner will receive when he returns for the French Open:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the end it\u2019s the justice that said that he can play the French (Open). If they thought that that\u2019s the way to proceed then I respect that so I don\u2019t think we have to analyse another way. You can analyse all the process\u2026 or if want to think about if you need to change things then \u2018Ok\u2019 I\u2019m always open to talk about changing things for better but in terms of thinking Jannik needs to be supported of playing the French Open from when you can play the French Open, why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the rivalry between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz and how it compares with the era of the \u2018Big Three\u2019:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c(The rivalry) It\u2019s already there. Last year\u2026 Two Grand Slams for each. Of course if they can bring their rivalry to the next level in terms of fighting for the most important titles for a long period of time that will be great news for tennis. It\u2019s going to be another interesting rivalry between two great players and that\u2019s going to be great for our sport. We don\u2019t need to put this pressure on about thinking that they have to follow our numbers or not. Let them play and then at the end of their careers we\u2019re going to see where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On comparisons with him and rising star Carlos Alcaraz and the pressure on Alcaraz:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s normal. All of us received the pressure from the media and from the hope that people have about you, but I think at the end, we are humans and we know how to handle that. I don\u2019t think for Carlos it\u2019s a big deal holding that pressure. He\u2019s a great player and has a great family behind (him). I think he\u2019s doing great and he\u2019s having an amazing career and he\u2019s going to win much more if he stays out of injury \u2013 that\u2019s the most important thing. I wish and I really believe that he\u2019s going to have one of the best careers of all time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On whether he\u2019d follow Andy Murray and go into tennis coaching:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn this life you can never say never. It\u2019s difficult to imagine myself now doing this kind of thing \u2026 That\u2019s something private (on whether he\u2019s received any calls). It\u2019s not my moment, at all. I am in a different moment of my life and I don\u2019t see myself traveling now with a player, spending more time outside of home in this moment of my life but, of course, always open to talk with players if they have any doubt. Happy to help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On his decision to retire:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI started practising as a professional since I was 8 years old so, you know, when you take that decision you need to make sure that you are 100% convinced. What I would hate to do is announce my retirement and stay at home thinking, OK, uh, maybe I still had the chances to keep playing so I wanted to avoid that feeling so I did all what I could do since I make my final decision to keep going because mentally I was with the energy and in terms of level of tennis I think I still had the right level of tennis to keep fighting for the things that I like to fight. But then uh when I realised that my body don\u2019t give me the chance to do what my mind say then it\u2019s the moment that you realise that it\u2019s not a comeback chance to make another decision so then I, I convince myself that that was the right way to finish and I did it. My body convinced my mind. I never find that uh level of feeling myself free to go for any ball and I never played the game free of limitations so when I realised that that\u2019s never going to happen again, then it\u2019s the moment that you know that it\u2019s the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On reflecting on his 20-year career in the game:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had a very intense 20 years of professional tennis career but I enjoyed a lot, of course, I suffered the moments, but overall have been an amazing experience, unforgettable for me and because of tennis, I was able to enjoy things that I never could imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On watching Rory McIlroy clinch The Masters title:
<\/strong>\u201cI texted him before and after and I of course I received an answer from, from him. I have been super emotional. I was honestly\u2026 I was crying at home when he won. I\u2019ve been very, very emotional and I was suffering a lot with him. He deserved it and he was playing so good and I suffered a lot last day. I honestly had the confidence all the time that he will make it happen because he deserved it first of all, and I always think that in some way there is justice and, uh, after what happened in the US Open last year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On how he thought Rory McIlroy\u2019s final round played out:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really believe that probably he (Rory McIlory) knew before the round that he going to go through all this pressure moments and the beginnings he accepted very well. I think he made a very risky shot in the 11. The mistake in the 13 shot for me that was the, the toughest moment of the round. I love Rory honestly and I love him as a sportsman and as, as a person, and I wanted him to, to win so much, so I watched it every single shot and yeah, I was very, very emotional at the end. I was so, so happy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an exclusive interview with CNN\u2019s\u00a0Amanda Davies\u00a0at the Laureus World Sports Awards, Spanish tennis legend\u00a0Rafael Nadal\u00a0says he completely trusts that world No. 1 Jannik Sinner is innocent, as the Italian prepares to return from a doping suspension. The saga around Sinner has shone the spotlight on the current anti-doping protocols in tennis, with several players […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19707,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19704"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19708,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19704\/revisions\/19708"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}