NEW YORK (AP) — Rafael Nadal said on a Spanish television show that he does not believe Jannik Sinner had any intention of using a banned substance, nor did the current world No. 1 tennis player receive any preferential treatment when he was acquitted of doping charges after testing positive twice for traces of an anabolic steroid in March.

“I trust that he was not punished because the judges in this case have clearly stated that there is nothing to punish. … I don’t think the verdict has anything to do with the fact that he is number 1 in the world,” 22-time major champion Nadal said in an interview with “El Hormiguero” on Monday.

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

The International Tennis Integrity Agency said on August 20 that it had been determined that the banned performance-enhancing substance had inadvertently entered Sinner’s body through a massage by his physiotherapist, which is why the player was not banned.

When asked about the matter before the start of the US Open in New York, Novak Djokovic said he understood why some tennis players questioned whether there was a double standard in the sport.

Nadal, who had to sit out the US Open, said: “I believe in people’s good intentions. I know Sinner. I don’t think Sinner wanted to dope.”

“At the end of the day, justice is justice and I believe in justice,” Nadal said. “I believe in the bodies that have to make decisions and that they do so based on what they believe is right.”

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AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis