The foreign press on Wednesday raised doubts on the use of a banned steroid by Jannik Sinner after the world number one was spared a ban by world tennis due to his having taken the substance accidentally in a cream used by his masseurs.
"Positive in the test in March, innocent five months later: the Sinner case comes to light and raises questions," said French sports daily L'Equipe in a webpage-leading article title titled "The Sinner Affair: Delayed Revelation and Numnerous Questions".
The article went on: the ITIA (International Tennis Integrity Agency) announced Tuesday that the Italian Jannik Sinner, world number one and recent winner of the Masters 1900 in Cincinnati, had tested positive for an anabolic steroid twice in March, before being declared innocent by an independent tribunal, Sports Resolution, according to which he was not to blame and did not commit any negligent act".
L'Equipe spoke of "a so far well-kept secret".
The Athletic, a web product of The New York Times sports desk, titled "Jannik Sinner receives anti-doping sanction after positive tests for banned substance clostebol" but did not put the news as a lead item.
"An independent tribunal has ruled that Sinner bears 'no fault or negligence' for both positive tests, but Sinner has been stripped of his ranking points, prize money, and results from the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells in March," said The Athletic, without raising doubts about the sentence.
But Spanish sports daily Marca was more ironic and insinuating in its coverage.
"Spells, a spray and accusations of favourable treatment" was its web page's leading title.
"The truth has come to light, Sinner tested positive, but he won't be banned," read the article.
Another headline in the same daily on the same subject said "Tennis explodes after Sinner's double positive tests. Bingo!".
That second article continued: "Many tennis players are doubting the impartiality of the tribunal in weighing the sanction".
Former Wimbledon finalist Nick Kygios of Australia said on X: "Ridiculous, whether it was accidental or planned. Two tests positive for a banned substance (steroid)...you should be out for two years. Your performances improved. Massage cream...yeah, nice".
Former cyclist Stefano Agostini said there had been a "double standard" at work at the tribunal, stressing that he had himself been banned for 15 months for using the substance, clostebol, in 2013.
In Britain, The Daily Telegraph was even more severe in its assessment of the case, saying that "the controllers of doping in tennis have lost all credibility for their silence on Jannik Sinner.
The conservative daily added: "the Italian's acquittal leads one to wonder if there is one law for superstars and another for normal players".
But Sinner's trainer Darren Cahill told ESPN "We stayed so calm because we believed that Jannik was innocent".
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