Casper Ruud offered some strong public support to Jannik Sinner, calling him “innocent” and labeling the entire doping case as “unfortunate.”

As everyone knows very well by now, the Italian tested twice positive for steroid clostebol but was able to quickly figure out that it happened through contamination and that his physio – who applied the massage without gloves – was to fully blame. The ITIA accepted the explanation and he avoided both provisional and real suspension.

But the WADA wasn’t happy with that and they appealed the ITIA’s verdict, pretty much saying that Sinner deserved to be held accountable in at least some capacity. Ultimately, the two sides settled on a three-month suspension and now the three-time Grand Slam champion is serving a suspension between February 9th – May 4th.

“I always considered him innocent. It’s extremely unfortunate in terms of how the substance got into his system,” Ruud said in Monte Carlo.

Sinner ‘does not know’ how he will be welcomed by his colleagues

In an interview with Sky Sports over the weekend, the three-time Grand Slam champion insisted he was “Innocent” and that “an unfair” thing happened to him. He was also asked to reveal if he had any thoughts about how others would react to his upcoming return.

“I don’t know what might happen. It will be difficult making a comeback with so much attention on me. The people I have around me, not just my team but my family and friends, the people I’m closest to, have no doubts about what the truth is,” Sinner said.

As mentioned above, the Italian’s ban runs out on May 4th – exactly three days before the start of the Rome Masters. Since it is his home event, there is no doubt that he will receive a very warm welcome there – at least from fans.

After Rome, Sinner will go to Germany for the Hamburg Open as part of his preparation for the French Open.