Novak Djokovic calls for doping transparency after Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek cases

BRISBANE – Novak Djokovic on Dec 29 called for more transparency around doping suspensions in tennis, saying high-ranked players appeared to be treated differently to others.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion agreed with Australian Nick Kyrgios, who on Dec 28 said integrity in the sport was “awful”.

They were speaking in the wake of doping violations by top-ranked Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek in 2024.

Djokovic, who will play doubles with Kyrgios at the Dec 29-Jan 5 Brisbane International, said there needed to be far greater transparency from the sport’s governing bodies around doping violations.

And he said that it appeared that top players such as Italy’s Sinner and Pole Swiatek, the women’s world No. 2, were being treated differently from those further down the rankings.

“I think Nick has some fair points when it comes to transparency and inconsistency with protocols and case-to-case comparables,” Djokovic said. “We have some players who have been waiting for over a year for their case to be resolved, so the issue is the inconsistency and the transparency.”

While the Serb said he believed Sinner when he said his positive test for the steroid clostebol was because of contamination from his physiotherapist, he asserted that the players had been left uninformed during the whole process.

“I’ve been really frustrated, as have most of the other players, that we’ve been kept in the dark for five months,” Djokovic said.

“He (Sinner) received the news (of the positive tests) in April and the announcement was not until August, just before the US Open.

“The ATP has not really talked in depth about why they kept that case away from the public. Then we had (Simona) Halep’s case and Swiatek’s case on the WTA Tour and it’s not a good look for our sport.”

Sinner twice tested positive for clostebol in March.

However, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted his argument that the steroid entered his system due to contamination and opted not to suspend him.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) subsequently appealed against the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), with a verdict pending.

Swiatek tested positive for the heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) in an out-of-competition sample in August when she was ranked No. 1.

As with Sinner, the ITIA accepted that Swiatek’s violation was not intentional and she received only a one-month ban.

In contrast, Halep was handed a four-year ban by the ITIA in 2022 after testing positive for roxadustat.

The two-time Major champion argued it was the result of a tainted supplement and successfully appealed to the CAS, which reduced her suspension to nine months and she returned to the court in March.

The former world No. 1 said in late November: “I stand and ask myself, why is there such a big difference in treatment and judgment?

“I can’t find and I don’t think there can be a logical answer. It can only be bad will from ITIA, the organisation that has done absolutely everything to destroy me despite the evidence.

“How is it possible that in identical cases happening around the same time, ITIA to have completely different approaches to my detriment?”

Djokovic, too, had questions about the anti-doping processes.

“I’m just questioning the way the system works,” the 37-year-old said.

“Why are certain players not treated the same as other players – maybe there’s some ranking reasons behind it, or maybe others have more financial backing behind them or stronger legal teams.”

Kyrgios has been scathing about the ITIA decision involving Sinner.

“Tennis integrity right now, and everyone knows it, but no one wants to speak about it – it’s awful,” the Australian said on Dec 28, adding that said the sport’s image was being tarnished.

“I just think that it’s been handled horrifically in our sport.”

Asked if he believed that Sinner had done something wrong, Kyrgios pointed to the facts of the case.

“He did fail two doping tests at separate times,” he said. “It wasn’t one after the other. They were a different time frame.”

He added: “If he didn’t do anything wrong, why did they take his prize money and points (at Indian Wells) away? Obviously they found something wrong with it. Obviously, Wada has appealed it because of this.” AFP, REUTERS