The former world number one Novak Djokovic believed already after Jannik Sinner's acquittal last year that the stars seemed to be treated differently than others. Something the Serb repeated before his competitive comeback in the ATP tournament in Doha, Qatar.
The criticism comes just days after the International Anti-Doping Agency Wada and Sinner reached an agreement – the Italian is banned for three months.
Special treatment for top players?
It seems like you can almost influence the outcome (of a doping case) if you're a top player, if you have access to top lawyers, says Djokovic, who was forced to break off the semifinal in the Grand Slam tournament Australian Open in January due to injury.
Last year, the five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek was banned for a month. The Pole had tested positive for low levels of the heart medicine trimetazidin.
Romanian Simona Halep was banned for four years in the fall of 2022 for a similar doping case. The former world number one – who ended her career in February – had the ban reduced to nine months, but the appeal process took longer than that.
Simona Halep and some other players who are not so well-known have had to fight for years to resolve their cases or have been banned for several years. It's so inconsistent, says Djokovic.
No confidence
Tennis's anti-doping system must be reviewed, he believes.
If you handle each case individually or independently of each other, which is what's happening now, there's no red thread. In some cases, there's transparency, in others not.
Djokovic believes that players – both on the women's and men's sides – lack confidence in Wada and ITIA (International Tennis Integrity Agency) and the entire process.
The Italian tennis world number one Jannik Sinner tested positive for the banned steroid clostebol on two occasions last year.
According to Sinner, he accidentally ingested the banned substance during a massage, as the physiotherapist had treated a skin injury with a medium containing the banned substance.
He was acquitted in August, but the International Anti-Doping Agency Wada appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).
On Saturday, it was announced that Wada and Sinner had reached an agreement – he is banned for three months and can start playing tennis again on May 5.
