Novak Djokovic has spoken up about the doping controversy surrounding young rival Jannik Sinner in the buildup to the 2024 US Open. Sinner, the World No. 1, tested positive for the banned substance Clostebol twice earlier this year, but was recently cleared to continue playing after an independent tribunal declared that the Italian himself was not at fault for the contamination.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) and Sinner released statements on Tuesday, August 20, revealing all the relevant details of the case. However, it didn’t take long for things to take a controversial turn, as multiple active players such as Denis Shapovalov and Nick Kyrgios, and several fans, questioned why there was no extended suspension handed out to the Italian.

The questions stemmed from harsher punishments meted out to lower-ranked players and the time it took for the sensitive information to be made public.

Sinner himself had to serve a provisional suspension for a few days before it was lifted following a successful appeal from the Italian’s legal team. The reigning Australian Open champion also had to forfeit all the ranking points and prize money he had earned from his 2024 BNP Paribas Open campaign in Indian Wells.

Recently, Novak Djokovic was asked about his thoughts on his rival’s situation at a 2024 US Open pre-tournament press conference. The Serb was also quizzed about the potential role of the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), co-founded by Djokovic himself and Canadian Vasek Pospisil, in facilitating fairness, transparency and equality across such cases going forward.

The 24-time Major winner admitted that he and Pospisil had co-founded the PTPA to advocate for “standardized approaches” to resolve such cases. Djokovic also empathized with some of his colleagues who have voiced their frustrations at Sinner not receiving a stricter punishment.

“As far as Jannik’s case, you know, as I said, these kind of instances are the very reason that why we founded PTPA that is always advocating for fair protocols, clear protocols for standardized approaches to these kind of cases.I understand the frustration of the players is there because of lack of consistency. As I understood, his case was cleared the moment basically it was announced. But, you know, I think five or six months passed since the news was brought to him and his team,” Djokovic said.

The former World No. 1 pointed out the loopholes “in the system” as well, suggesting that as long as they are not rectified, there is a likelihood of such instances playing out again.

“So, yeah, there is a lot of issues in the system. We see lack of standardized and clear protocols. I can understand the sentiments of a lot of players that are questioning whether they are treated the same,” Djokovic added.

Jannik Sinner still above Novak Djokovic in ATP rankings after Indian Wells point deduction ahead of US Open 2024

The Serb (L) and Jannik Sinner (R) (Source: Getty)
The 400 ranking points that Sinner was forced to forfeit from his BNP Paribas Open campaign in Indian Wells earlier this year have not been deducted retroactively, which means that the Italian remains the World No. 1 as things stand.

Both players are among the favorites for the 2024 US Open men’s singles title, and they are both heading into the year’s last Major after marking significant milestones in their respective careers.

While Djokovic’s last outing saw him come out on top against Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s singles gold medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Sinner won the recently-concluded Cincinnati Open after defeating Frances Tiafoe.

Djokovic, the No. 2 seed at the US Open, is set to start his Flushing Meadows campaign with a first-round match against Radu Albot. Meanwhile, the top-seeded Sinner is slated to kickstart his campaign against Mackenzie McDonald.

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Edited by Neelabhra Roy