Novak Djokovic has warned World No 1 Jannik Sinner that the cloud of the doping controversy will follow him just like the vaccine controversy during COVID-19 has still followed him. Sinner served only a three-month ban in February 2025 after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA, which is the world’s anti-doping enforcement agency) accepted the Italian tennis player’s explanation that a banned anabolic steroid, clostebol, entered his system accidentally.
Djokovic also slammed the anti-doping authorities for scheduling the three-month ban in a way that Sinner did not miss any Grand Slam events.
“It’s just something that, it was so major, and when that happens, over time it will fade, but I don’t think it will disappear. There’s always going to be a certain group of people that will always try to bring that forward,” Djokovic told journalist Piers Morgan in an interview on the Piers Morgan: Uncensored show on YouTube.
WATCH: Djokovic interview
Djokovic said he had faith that Sinner, who is his regular practice partner, “didn’t dope on purpose”. But the former World No 1 Serbian questioned how the Italian managed to serve his time without missing a grand slam.
“There is the lack of transparency, the inconsistency, the convenience [of] the ban coming between the slams, so he doesn’t miss out the others – it’s just it was very, very odd,” added Djokovic. “I really don’t like how the case was being handled and you could hear so many other players, both male and female, who had some similar situations coming out in the media and complaining that it was a preferable treatment.”
The Serbian tennis ace felt that the episode would haunt Sinner for a long time.
“That cloud will follow him forever like Covid vaccine situation for me,” Djokovic said, referring to the 2022 case when he was deported from Australia for failing to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
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