By Rory Carroll
(Reuters) – Recent doping controversies involving top players have not damaged tennis’s reputation but having a single commissioner for the sport would go a long way towards clearing up any confusion surrounding cases, John McEnroe said.
Men’s world number one Jannik Sinner failed two drug tests in March for trace amounts of the anabolic androgenic steroid clostebol but was cleared of any wrongdoing by an independent tribunal that accepted his explanation of unintentional contamination.
Women’s world number two Iga Swiatek accepted a one-month ban in November after a positive test for hormone and metabolic modulator trimetazidine, which she said was the result of contamination of her sleep medication.
The ITIA, which runs tennis’s anti-doping program, said both cases involved “inadvertent breaches of the rules.”
“I don’t think it has done any damage because if you look, it’s way worse in the other sports,” McEnroe, a former world number one turned ESPN broadcaster, told reporters ahead of the Australian Open.
“In my opinion tennis is cleaner than any other sport. Now that doesn’t mean there are not issues.”
He said confusion stemming from the timing of the release of information, like Sinner’s positive test at March’s Indian Wells tournament not being made public until just before the U.S. Open began in August, makes matters worse.
“That part I really don’t like,” he said.
Rennae Stubbs, a former player, current coach and ESPN commentator, said players are tested “all the time” and that a commissioner could help increase transparency when a positive test arises and the players’ reputation hangs in the balance.
“We need a commissioner of tennis that actually gets out there and speaks on behalf of players to defend or not defend them,” she said.
“The bottom line is we have no one talking for them.”
McEnroe said he had long advocated for a commissioner and had been “ready, willing and able” to take the job.
“If I wasn’t the commissioner, there still should be a commissioner,” he said.
“It doesn’t look like it’s ever going to happen because people are too busy, these tournaments protect their own interests. They care about themselves, they don’t care enough about the sport,” he said.
“So it’s too bad. But nonetheless, if it’s not me, it should be someone else.
“We’ll see if it happens in the next 10 years.”
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Toby Davis)
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