Djokovic and the Sinner case: “In the dark for months, it's frustrating. Anti-doping? There are tennis players treated differently”

Brisbane, 29 December 2024 – "I have known Jannik since he was a boy and I don't think he has taken intentionally prohibited substances, but it's frustrating to think that I and many other tennis players have been kept in the dark for months"The message is clear. Novak Djokovic. Protagonist of the media day at brisbane, where he will go in search of the 100th ATP title, the former world number 1 has returned to talk about the Clostebol case which involved Sinner. Nole calls for greater transparency: "I have doubts about how the anti-doping system works and why there are tennis players treated differently from others. The problem for me is the discrepancy in the system in terms of transparency."

Djokovic in his interview also defended in a certain sense Nick Kyrgios, a fierce critic of Jannik, saying he understands his words: "The Sinner case is not pleasant, at the same time we live in a world where everyone has the right to express themselves, especially on social media. Nick expressed himself very well about the whole Sinner doping case and he is right about transparency and inconsistency protocols and comparisons between the various cases – the words of the 24-time slam winner –. We have seen many players in the past, and also currently, who have been suspended for not even having undergone anti-doping tests and for not having communicated their whereabouts. Some lower-ranked players have been waiting for their cases to be resolved for more than a year. These things are not good for our sport., as I have said several times in the past."

Nole finally reiterated: “I was really frustrated, like most other players, from the fact that we were kept in the dark for five months (about Sinner's positivity, ed.). The ATP did not explain well the reason why they kept it secret. Then we had the case of Simona Halep and then that of Iga swiatek and that's not a good image for tennis."