DOHA (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic said a majority of players believe favouritism is at play in the tennis anti-doping system and called for it to be overhauled in the wake of cases involving Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek.
Sinner on Saturday accepted a three-month doping ban after testing positive for anabolic agent clostebol last year, while Swiatek served a one-month ban at the end of 2024 when the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ) showed up in her test.
While Djokovic was not suggesting that either of the Grand Slam champions had intentionally done anything wrong, he did say there were inconsistencies in their treatment at the hands of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).
“The two cases of Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner have attracted a lot of attention and it’s not a good image for our sport,” the 24-times Grand Slam champion said at the Qatar Open on Monday.
“A majority of the players don’t feel that (the process is) fair. A majority of the players feel like there is favouritism happening.
“It appears that you can almost affect the outcome if you are a top player, if you have access to the top lawyers and whatnot,” Djokovic added.
Other current and former players such as Nick Kyrgios, Stan Wawrinka and Tim Henman have raised questions over Sinner’s case, the latter suggesting that the expiration of his ban just before the Rome Masters and French Open was “too convenient”.
Djokovic, who co-founded the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) as a voice for the athletes in the game, said there was a widespread mistrust of the entire doping process among his fellow players.
“I think right now it’s the ripe time for us to address the system, because the system and the structure obviously doesn’t work on anti-doping, it’s obvious,” the 37-year-old Serbian said.
“I hope in the near future the governing bodies are going to come together, of our Tours and the tennis ecosystem, and try to find a more effective way to deal with these processes.
“It’s inconsistent and it appears to be very unfair.”
Sinner’s agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), who had appealed when the Italian was cleared without punishment last year, recognised his explanation that tainted products used by his masseur had been behind the positive test.
“Sinner got suspended for three months because of the mistakes and the negligence of his team members that are working on the (ATP) Tour, so that’s also something that I personally, and a lot of players, find a bit strange,” Djokovic said.
Djokovic pointed out that it looked like very different processes were followed by the ITIA in doping cases involving the likes of Romanian Simona Halep and Briton Tara Moore.
“There are so many inconsistencies between the cases,” he said.
“We have seen on social media Simona Halep and Tara Moore and some other players that are maybe less known that have been struggling to resolve their cases for years, or have gotten the ban for years.
“We have to bear in mind that Sinner and Swiatek at the time were number ones in the world when we had those announcements happening,” he added.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
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