MELBOURNE, Jan 10, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi has insisted Jannik Sinner's doping case was "run by the book" with no preferential treatment, and expressed confidence that tennis would survive should the Italian be banned.

World number one Sinner twice tested positive for traces of the steroid clostebol in March.

He was exonerated by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, which accepted his explanation that the drug entered his system when his physiotherapist treated a cut.

But the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Sinner is awaiting the verdict with a suspension possible.

Last week, Novak Djokovic called for more transparency around doping suspensions in tennis, saying high-ranked players appeared to be treated differently to others.

But Gaudenzi told newswire Australian Associated Press in an interview published Friday that was not true and Sinner's case had been dealt with properly.

"I genuinely believe there has been a lot of misinformation out there, which is unfortunate," Gaudenzi said ahead of Sinner's Australian Open title defence starting on Sunday.

"I am 100 percent sure that there has not been any preferential treatment. The process has been run by the book and according to the rules, by the ITIA."

While Djokovic said he believed Sinner when he said he tested positive due to contamination, the 24-time Grand Slam winner asserted that players had been "kept in the dark" throughout the process.

But Gaudenzi said he only found out about the case "two days before the announcement from the ITIA -- the way it should have been".

"I initially was a bit shocked. (But) it is completely independent and they obviously went to an independent panel."

Gaudenzi pleaded for patience so the saga could play out, while declaring that the sport would survive should Sinner be banned.

"If that is the case, I think he'll survive and I think we'll survive. Overall, tennis is a very strong product," he said.