Tennis legend Rafael Nadal defended current world number one Jannik Sinner after the Italian tested positive for a banned steroid and received a light punishment.

Speaking on the television show “El Hormiguero” in his home country of Spain, Nadal said he did not believe Sinner had intentionally taken the banned substance. He also stressed that the governing bodies were not only sparing the Italian because of his number 1 status.

“I have a virtue or a deficit, which is that I usually believe in people’s goodwill in the end,” Nadal said, according to Reuters. “I know Sinner, I don’t think Sinner ever wanted to dope.”

Before the start of the US Open, it was revealed that Sinner had tested positive for clostebol twice in March. However, he was not banned by the International Tennis Integrity Agency because an independent court found that Sinner had been unaware of taking the steroid.

It was discovered that a member of the support team used an over-the-counter spray containing the substance to treat his own wound and transferred it into Sinner’s body through massage therapy that he performed without gloves.

Sinner still had to forfeit the ranking points and prize money he won at Indian Wells, the ATP Masters 1000 event in California where he was subjected to a doping test. However, some of his teammates felt that this was a double standard and that a weaker player would have been banned.

“I am absolutely convinced that he was not punished because those who had to judge this case saw very clearly that there were no sanctions,” Nadal said. “I don’t think he is not punished because he is a sinner, but that he is punished because he is someone else. I really believe that and I am convinced of it.”

The 38-year-old Nadal has won 22 Grand Slam titles. He canceled his participation in the US Open early for health reasons.

Sinner, the number one seed in New York, will face number 14 seed Tommy Paul of the USA in the final match of the fourth round on Monday night.

–Field level media