LONDON (AP) — Top-ranked Jannik Sinner accepting a three-month doping ban deal was slammed by his fellow tennis professionals on Saturday.
Sinner and the World Anti-Doping Agency settled on the suspension that means he can play again from May 5, will not lose his No. 1 ranking, will not miss any Grand Slams, and will not lose titles or prize money he earned after testing positive for a banned anabolic steroid last March.
Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka wrote on X, “I don't believe in a clean sport anymore ...”
“Fairness in tennis does not exist,” Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios said on X.
“Obviously Sinner’s team have done everything in their power to just go ahead and take a 3 month ban, no titles lost, no prize money lost. Guilty or not? Sad day for tennis."
World No. 8 Daniil Medvedev, speaking after losing in the Open 13 semifinals in Marseille, said, “I hope everyone can discuss with WADA and defend themselves like Jannik Sinner from now on.”
Former British No. 1 Tim Henman told Sky Sport, "When I read the statement this morning it just seems a little bit too convenient.
“Obviously having just won the Australian Open, to miss three months of the tour and therefore to be eligible to play at Roland Garros, the timing couldn't have been any better for Sinner, but I still think it leaves a pretty sour taste for the sport.”
The Professional Tennis Players Association, founded by Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil, also weighed in on X, posting a statement criticizing the parties involved in the decision-making process: The ATP, WTA, Grand Slams, WADA and International Tennis Integrity Agency.
“The ‘system’ is not a system. It’s a club. Supposed case-by-case discretion is, in fact, merely cover for tailored deals, unfair treatment, and inconsistent rulings. It’s not just the different results for different players. It’s the lack of transparency. The lack of process. The lack of consistency. The lack of credibility in the alphabet soup of agencies charged with regulating our sports and athletes,” the PTPA wrote.
It accused the agencies of unacceptable bias “for all athletes and shows a deep disrespect for every sport and its fans. It’s time for change.”
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
FILE -Jannik Sinner of Italy plays a backhand return to Alexander Zverev of Germany during the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake, File)
ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.
The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.
The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.
The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”
The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.
Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.
The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.
On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.
Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.
“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”
Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.
Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.
“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.
Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.
Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
