Another tennis player, former world number 355, tested positive like the young Italian: also in this case an ITIA trial immediately declared him innocent

The issue about the positivity to Clostebol that involved Jannik Sinner – later found innocent by the independent court – was certainly one of the most controversial situations of the season.

A situation that inevitably sparked a discussion on those who maintain the innocence and absolute extraneousness to the facts of the Italian player and those who, instead, maintain that Jannik should have been banned.

Among the points contested by some colleagues and fans themselves on social media, the different treatment that the system had in past situations compared to that of the ATP No.1, in a certain sense more protected and with the possibility of relying on an important and expensive team of lawyers.

The situation – as a whole – is very complicated to analyze on very different cases that involve other types of doping substances, without considering the infinitesimal quantity (less than a billionth of a gram) actually found in the Italian’s body. However, there is a case that can actually be compared to that of the 23-year-old Italian and the reason is linked to the same substance to which the player tested positive after the test.

It is Marco Bortolotti, an Italian former number 355 in the world and in the top-100 in the doubles ranking, who this year discovered that he had come into contact with Clostebol. The story was followed and explained in detail by Riccardo Bisti on Tennis Magazine Italia, who summarized the chronology of the facts and what happened.

The positivity was found at the ATP Challenger in Lisbon in October 2023 but the Italian was informed of the matter on January 30, 2024. He refused the counter-analysis and on February 1 he provided his explanation as to why Clostebol had entered his body.

The ITIA verified his version, deemed scientifically credible and plausible, and on February 7 closed the case (the provisional suspension would have started on the 13th). Therefore, Bortolotti was able to continue playing on the Tour without problems, even if in this case there are several little-known details, such as the tennis player’s explanation which was obscured, probably due to private information that could not be disclosed.