Novak Djokovic offered some strong comments on Monday regarding the suspension Jannik Sinner received from the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Sinner, who is the No. 1-ranked men’s tennis player in the world, accepted a 3-month suspension over his two positive drug tests in 2024. He will not be eligible to return to play until May 4.
Sinner twice tested positive for clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid, last March. He was permitted to continue playing while appealing the issue.
Sinner had argued that he “did not intend to cheat.” WADA felt “that his exposure to clostebol did not provide any performance-enhancing benefit and took place without his knowledge as the result of negligence of members of his entourage.”
Djokovic feels that there is inconsistency in tennis with the way punishments are applied, and he says the majority of his fellow players agree. Djokovic made his comments from Doha, which is where the Qatar Open is being played.
“It’s not a good image for our sport, that’s for sure,” Djokovic said while speaking with the media from Doha on Monday. “A majority of the players that I’ve talked to in the locker room, not just in the last few days but also the last few months, are not happy with the way this whole process has been handled.
“The majority of the players doesn’t feel that it’s fair. Majority of the players feel like there is favorism 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.”
Sinner did not miss any grand slam events last year despite his two positive tests, and his suspension was scheduled this year so that he wouldn’t have to miss any grand slams either.
“(Iga) Swiatek and Sinner are innocent, unless it’s proven otherwise. Right now we know they are innocent. Sinner’s got suspension for three months because of the mistakes and the negligence of his team members that are working on the tour. That’s also something that I personally, and a lot of players find, a bit strange. That also there is so much inconsistencies between the cases,” said Djokovic.
Djokovic brought up the cases of other players, such as Simona Halep, who received multi-year suspensions for their positive tests.
“Right now it’s a ripe time for us to really address the system, because the system and the structure obviously doesn’t work for anti-doping,” he said.
Sinner’s suspension is three months and did not cost him any majors. Swiatek received a one-month ban. Halep received a four-year suspension that was later reduced to nine months, while Tara Moore missed 18 months.
Djokovic wound up losing in the Qatar Open on Tuesday. You can listen to his comments on the suspension:
