Umberto Ferrara, Jannik Sinner's trainer during doping case, says he warned of clostebol risks

New York Times

04-04-2025

Jannik Sinner's former trainer has said that he was 'completely aware' of the risk of contamination from the healing spray at the center of the world No. 1's positive doping tests and subsequent three-month ban from tennis.
Umberto Ferrara, who is now working with Sinner's compatriot, Matteo Berrettini, said that he has been using Trofodermin — an over-the-counter spray which is readily available in Italy and which contains the anabolic steroid clostebol — 'for years,' in order to manage a chronic condition. He brought it to last year's Indian Wells tournament in California for that reason and advised Sinner's physio, Giacomo Naldi, of the risks of using it on his person.
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'I very clearly communicated to Naldi both the nature of the product, and the fact that it must not come into contact with Jannik for any reason,' Ferrara said in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport.
The Athletic contacted Naldi for comment via text message.
Sinner, who will not return to tennis until May, fired Ferrara and Naldi last summer, three days after it was announced that an independent tribunal convened by tennis integrity authorities had found that Sinner bore 'no fault or negligence' for his two positive tests. Later, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed that decision but did not dispute that Sinner had not intentionally doped. WADA's and Sinner's legal teams reached a case resolution agreement for a three-month ban in February.
'I'm not feeling that confident to continue with them,' Sinner said of the pair during a news conference ahead of last year's U.S. Open, which he won. He also won the Australian Open in January, his second title there and his third Grand Slam overall.
Sinner twice tested positive for clostebol, once in-competition at Indian Wells on March 10, and once out of competition just over a week later. He was provisionally suspended from tennis after both positive tests but successfully appealed those suspensions after explaining that they were the result of contamination from Naldi's sports massages. Sinner was therefore allowed to play without his positive tests becoming public, per the tennis anti-doping regulations set out by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).
Ferrara added to Gazzetta that the incident had led to him suffering 'grave damage' to his professional and personal reputation. Explaining how Naldi ended up using the spray on Sinner, Ferrara said: 'I suggested that he use it because he had a cut on his finger that wasn't healing and was affecting his work. I only allowed it to be used in my personal bathroom.
'Naldi did not deny being told about it, but he said he did not remember.'
Upon news of Sinner's positive test, Ferrara said his reaction was one of 'disbelief and astonishment.' He added: 'In a few hours, we reconstructed the steps that led to Jannik's contamination and I provided proof of purchase for the spray from a pharmacy in Bologna.'
Ferrara also criticized people who, he said, 'chose to attack my character by reporting the facts and circumstances superficially, deliberately ignoring the substance of the independent tribunal's decision.'
Sinner has been suspended from tennis since February 9. He will return at the Italian Open in Rome in early May.
(Top photo of Giacomo Naldi, Jannik Sinner and Umberto Ferrara with the Australian Open trophy: Andy Cheung / Getty Images)