Andre Agassi & Coco Gauff's ex-coach gives verdict on Jannik Sinner doping ban after Rafael Nadal's uncle Toni's criticism

Coco Gauff's former coach, Brad Gilbert, has agreed with Toni Nadal's take on the controversy surrounding Jannik Sinner's recent three-month doping ban. Since the amount of the banned substance clostebol present in his system wasn't significant enough to enhance performance by WADA's assessment, the American believes that the World No. 1 shouldn't be facing time on the sidelines at all.

Sinner failed two doping tests at the Indian Wells Masters last March. However, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced the news of the Italian testing positive for clostebol five months later. The ITIA concluded its investigation on the matter soon afterward, finding the 23-year-old at "no fault nor negligence". And while WADA was set to challenge this ruling in the Court of Arbitration (CAS) later in 2025, the anti-doping outfit backtracked earlier this month as both parties settled for a three-month ban.

Since then, tennis pros and pundits have been divided over how to perceive Jannik Sinner. This week, Rafael Nadal's uncle Toni, who guided the Spaniard to 14 Major titles, came out in defense of the World No. 1 and maintained that he shouldn't have been banned.

The Spanish coach expressed solidarity with Sinner for a variety of reasons, one of which was that the World No. 1 would never knowingly take banned substances due to his good character. Brad Gilbert, who has coached the likes of Andre Agassi, Andy Murray and Coco Gauff, backed Uncle Toni as he maintained that WADA should've let Sinner go with a warning considering the details of the case.

"1000% should have zero suspension when it’s 1/7 billion gram of salt should be a warning, all these type cases like missing 1st test plain and simple," Brad Gilbert wrote on X on Monday.

Toni Nadal, meanwhile, also called out other players that have criticized the reigning Australian Open champion. The 64-year-old went as far as to claim that some of the top pros that were apprehensive of the Italian's innocence weren't "very clean" themselves.

---

Toni Nadal on Jannik Sinner finding himself out of favor with his peers: "I'm surprised that different players have positioned themselves against it"

Although he didn't take too well with Jannik Sinner's detractors, Rafael Nadal's uncle Toni did extend his sympathy towards players who didn't enjoy the leniency that Jannik Sinner has received from the tennis world's anti-doping organizations.

“It's true that they say that others who aren't number 1 were sanctioned because they did wrong before. I'm surprised that different players have positioned themselves against it, even some at the highest level and some who are not very clean," Toni Nadal said at the 2025 Mallorca Championships.

Sinner will likely be back on the ATP Tour for the Italian Open, since his doping suspension ends on May 4 - five days before the commencement of the Masters-level event in Rome.