 "Novak Djokovic is the latest from the tennis fraternity to speak out against the relatively light sentence handed to world No 1 Jannik Sinner for doping. Reuters")
Serbian tennis legend Novak Djokovic has broken his silence on the Jannik Sinner doping controversy and the three-month suspension that he had accepted on Saturday , describing the tennis anti-doping system as “inconsistent” and “very unfair” and calling for a change. Sinner had had tested positive for anabolic steroid Clostebol, a banned substance, not once but twice last year while competing at the Indian Wells Masters, and while he had initially been cleared of any wrongdoing by the International Tennis Integrity Agency.
The World Anti-Doping Agency, however, filed an appeal against ITIA giving the Italian tennis star the clean chit before the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), initially seeking a suspension of at least a year.
After competing under the shadow of doping through last year’s US Open and the Australian Open last month – and emerging triumphant in both hard-court Grand Slams – Sinner made headlines across the tennis world by accepting a three-month suspension. It would be enough to keep him out of action till the French Open, the next Grand Slam on the calendar.
Djokovic says Sinner case reeks of favouritism
Many in the tennis fraternity, from Nick Kyrgios to Stan Wawrinka , were miffed by Sinner being allowed to escape with what they perceived was a light punishment, which resulted in WADA formally withdrawing its appeal at CAS.
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“I spoke with several players in the locker room, not only in the last few days but also in the previous months. Most of them are not satisfied with how the whole process has gone, and they don’t think it’s fair," 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said at the Qatar Open on Monday.
“Many of them believe there was favouritism. It almost seems like you can influence the result if you are a top player, and if you have access to top lawyers and so on.
“Sinner and (Iga) Swiatek are innocent, it has been proven. Sinner will have a three-month suspension due to some mistakes and negligence of some members of his team, who are working on the tour. This is also something that I personally and many other players find strange," the world No 7 added.
Besides Sinner, former women’s world No 1 Iga Swiatek was the other high-profile player who had tested positive for a banned substance although in her case, it was traces of trimetazidine a.k.a. TMZ that was found in her system.
‘Djoker’ compares Sinner and Swiatek with Halep
The Polish star was handed a one-month ban in November as a result and she was had competed at the Australian Open, where she had reached the semi-finals.
Djokovic, who had retired hurt from his Australian Open semi-final clash against Alexander Zverev after losing the opening set, compared Sinner and Swiatek’s cases with that of two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep.
The Romanian had been slapped with a four-year ban in October 2022 for two anti-doping violations which was later reduced to nine months in March last year.
“We have seen the cases of Simona Halep and Tara Moore, and other players perhaps less known, who have had difficulties for years to resolve their cases, or who have been suspended for a long time.
“I think it is really time to do something and address the system, because it is clear that the structure does not work like this.
“So yes, it is inconsistent and it seems very unfair to me, and that is all I have to say about it,” the 37-year-old added.