Jannik Sinner has been dropped from an exhibition occasion in Las Vegas subsequent month whereas the No. 1-ranked males’s tennis participant is serving a three-month ban linked to a pair of failed doping assessments.
As an alternative of Sinner, Casper Ruud is now slated to affix Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul on March 2 as a part of the MGM Rewards Slam at Mandalay Bay Resort and On line casino. The change was introduced Thursday in a information launch that mentioned Sinner “won’t play following his current suspension.”
Final weekend, Sinner accepted the punishment as a part of a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Company. WADA had appealed a choice final 12 months by the Worldwide Tennis Integrity Company to totally exonerate Sinner for what it deemed to be an unintentional contamination; he examined constructive twice in March 2024 for hint quantities of an anabolic steroid, then defined later {that a} cream bought by one in all his since-fired employees members — and was used on Sinner in a therapeutic massage by one other member of the entourage — contained the banned substance clostebol.
Below his settlement, Sinner — a 23-year-old from Italy — can be sidelined till early Could and might return to competitors on the Rome Masters in his house nation. The timing of the ban, which raised eyebrows amongst another gamers, means he will not miss a Grand Slam event; the following one is the French Open, which begins on Could 25.
Sinner has gained three of the previous 5 main males’s singles championships — every of the previous two Australian Opens, together with final month, and on the US Open in September.
Ruud and Zverev each have been the runner-up at majors 3 times. Fritz misplaced to Sinner in final 12 months’s US Open last. Paul’s finest Grand Slam displaying was reaching the semifinals.
On March 1, the top-ranked girl, Aryna Sabalenka, will play in opposition to former No. 1 Naomi Osaka in an exhibition match on the similar web site.