New York, Sep 3 (AP) Rafael Nadal told a Spanish television show that he doesn't think Jannik Sinner intended to use a banned substance and that the current No 1-ranked man didn't receive preferential treatment when he was cleared of doping after testing positive twice in March for trace amounts of an anabolic steroid.

"I trust that he wasn't punished because those who judged this case determined quite clearly that there was nothing to punish. ... I don't believe the sentence has anything to do with him being No 1 in the world," 22-time major champion Nadal said in an interview with "El Hormiguero" on Monday.

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Sinner played Tommy Paul in the fourth round of the US Open on Monday night.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency said on August 20 that it was determined the banned performance-enhancer entered Sinner's system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist, and that is why the player was not suspended.

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Asked about the matter in New York before the US Open began, Novak Djokovic said he gets why some tennis players question whether there's a double-standard in the sport.

Nadal, who sat out the US Open, said: "I believe in someone's good faith. I know Sinner; I don't believe that Sinner wanted to dope."

"In the end, justice is justice, and I believe in justice," Nadal said.

"I believe in the bodies that have to make decisions and that they do it based on what they believe is right." AP

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)