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The Court of Arbitration for Sport will rule on doping allegations against world number one Yannick Sinner in April.
World No. 1 Yannick Sinner will be heard on doping charges at the Court of Arbitration for Sport on April 16-17, the Lausanne-based body said on Friday.
The World Anti-Doping Agency appealed after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) cleared Siner after he tested positive twice for the banned steroid clostebol in March last year.
“No party has requested a public hearing and it will be held behind closed doors,” CAS said in a statement.
The ITIA agreed to defend Australian Open champion Sinner's explanation that the drug entered his body when his physiotherapist used a spray containing it to treat a cut, then provided massage and sports therapy to the player.
Asked on the eve of the Australian Open if he knew when a verdict was due, the 23-year-old said: “I know just as much as you do.
“We're at a stage where we don't know many, many things.”
Sinner, who faces a tough test in the first round at Melbourne Park against Chilean big man Nicolas Jarry, admitted the scandal was still on his mind.
“You think about it, of course,” he said. “I'd be lying if I told you I forgot.
“It's something I've carried with me for quite a long time. But it is what it is. I'm here trying to prepare for the Grand Slam. Let's see how it goes.”
Sinner said he has always been “very, very careful about every medication I take, even what I eat.”
“When the bottle is open, I throw it away, I get a new one,” he said.
“In the back of my mind I know exactly what happened and that's how I block it out.
“I didn't do anything wrong, that's why I'm still here. That's why I'm still playing.”
ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi insisted Sinner's case was being handled “by the book”.
“I honestly believe there's a lot of misinformation out there, which is unfortunate,” Gaudenzi told Australia's Associated Press in a recent interview.
“I am 100 percent sure that there were no preferences. The process is guided by the book and in accordance with the ITIA rules.
Former world number one Novak Djokovic said he believed Sinner when he said he had tested positive for infection, but the 24-time Grand Slam winner claimed the players were “kept in the dark” throughout process.
“I was really disappointed, like most of the other players, that we were kept in the dark for five months,” Djokovic said.
“He (Sinner) got the news (of the positive tests) in April and the announcement wasn't until August, just before the US Open.
“ATP hasn't really talked in depth about why it kept this case out of the public eye.”
