World-renowned tennis star Novak Djokovic has called for a complete overhaul of the sport's anti-doping system, criticizing it as "unfair" and highlighting "inconsistencies" in how cases are handled between top-ranked and lower-ranked players.
Speaking on Monday, Djokovic pointed to recent doping cases involving top players like Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek, contrasted with harsher penalties faced by lesser-known athletes. "There's a majority of the players that I've talked to in the locker room, not just in the last few days, but also last few months, that are not happy with the way this whole process has been handled," Djokovic said. "A majority of the players don't feel that it's fair."
Sinner's Case Highlights Inconsistencies
World number one Jannik Sinner agreed to a three-month ban on Saturday after admitting "partial responsibility" for mistakes made by his team, which led to him testing positive twice for traces of clostebol last March. Initially facing a potential two-year suspension, an agreement was reached after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) withdrew its appeal and accepted the reduced ban.
Similarly, Poland's five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek accepted a one-month suspension last year after testing positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine. These cases, involving high-profile players, have raised questions about the consistency of sanctions in tennis.
Contrasting Treatment of Lower-Ranked Players
In contrast, former world number one Simona Halep was handed a four-year ban by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) in 2022 for testing positive for the blood-boosting drug roxadustat. Although Halep argued that the positive result was due to a tainted supplement and successfully appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to reduce her suspension to nine months, Djokovic believes the disparity in treatment is evident.
"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," Djokovic added. "There is so much inconsistencies between the cases."
Call for Reform
Djokovic also suggested that top players might have an advantage due to access to better legal resources. "It seems like you can almost affect the outcome if you are a top player, if you have access to the top lawyers," he noted.
As Djokovic returns to action at the Qatar Open—his first tournament since retiring injured from last month's Australian Open semifinals—the 24-time Grand Slam champion hopes that tennis governing bodies will come together to reform the anti-doping system. "I hope that in the next period of the near future that the governing bodies are going to come together… and try to find a more effective way to deal with these processes. It's inconsistent, and it appears to be very unfair," he concluded.
