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novak djokovic believe that Janic SinnerThe three-month doping suspension is a “cloud” that will follow him for the rest of his career.
Sinner tested positive twice for the anabolic agent Clostebol in March 2024 but World Anti-Doping Agency Four-time Grand Slam champion’s explanation for banned substances accepted inadvertently entered his system After a massage from his then physio.
WADA said Sinner “did not intend to cheat” and the Italian reached an agreement in February that allowed him to return to the next Grand Slam, the French Open, after accepting “partial responsibility”. Djokovic said he believed Sinner “didn’t do it on purpose” but questioned the timing of his ban and suggested he received preferential treatment.
Djokovic said the fallout from Sinner’s case would weigh on the 24-year-old for the rest of his career and compared it to his deportation from Australia in 2022 after entering the country without a COVID-19 vaccine.
“That cloud will follow him just as the COVID cloud will follow me for the rest of his life, or for that matter, my career,” Djokovic said. In an interview with Piers Morgan“It’s something that, it was huge, and when it does, you know, over time it will fade, but I don’t think it will disappear, There will always be a certain group of people that will always try to bring it forward,”
Djokovic said he felt there were several “red flags” surrounding Sinner’s agreement with WADA, which has defended his handling of the caseThe International Tennis Integrity Agency has also said that no preferential treatment was given,
“There’s a lack of transparency, there’s inconsistency, there’s convenience, you know, restrictions coming in, between [grand] Slams it, so that it is not missed by others. It’s just, it was very, very strange,” Djokovic said.
“And so I really don’t like how the case was being handled and you could hear a lot of other players, both male and female, who had some similar situations, you know, coming to the media, and complaining that it was a better treatment.
“So I think essentially, I want to believe and I, knowing my history with him, I think he didn’t do it intentionally. But certainly, he’s responsible, because these are the rules. You’re responsible when something like this happens. And so when you see someone very similar or something similar [the] That’s being banned for years, and then basically being banned for whatever three months, or whatever, that’s fair, that’s not right.”
After winning the Australian Open early in the season and before serving his three-month ban, Sinner reached the finals of all three Grand Slams of the year and defeated rival Carlos Alcaraz to win his first Wimbledon title. He lost to Alcaraz in the finals of the French Open and US Open.
Djokovic also praised the way Sinner handled the investigation and said he felt a “sense of empathy” for the criticism he has received.
“It’s not easy for him,” Djokovic said. “And I think he’s handled the media storm that comes from time to time. He’s handling it very well and very maturely and very composed and congratulations to him for that. It’s definitely not easy. And through it all, he’s still dominating. He’s still having incredible winning Slams, winning things.”