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Novak Djokovic believes there were 'so many red flags' in the handling of Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner's anti-doping case, and that the 'cloud will follow him for the rest of his career'.
World No 1 Sinner failed two tests in March of last year, with traces of the anabolic steroid clostebol found in his system.
Tennis's anti-doping body accepted the 24-year-old's explanation that the banned substance entered his body via a massage from his physio Giacomo Naldi, after Naldi had treated a cut on his hand with a spray containing clostebol.
He was given no punishment, a decision which World Anti-Doping (WADA) appealed, eventually settling with team Sinner on a three-month ban which meant he did not have to miss a single Grand Slam.
Despite striking an agreement with WADA, Sinner - who has consistently and vehemently denied wrongdoing - branded the anti-doping violation 'unfair' in his first interview after being slapped with the ban last April.
'I've known Jannik since he was probably 13, 14 years of age, and I was practising with Sinner a lot of times when he was a junior,' Djokovic told Piers Morgan on his TV show Uncensored.
'I liked him, actually a lot, and he always came across very genuine, very nice, very quiet. He had his own world, and he didn't really care too much about the lights of society. He just wanted to be the best player he can be. And I like that. I liked his mentality. So when this happened I was shocked, honestly. I do think that he didn't do it on purpose. But the way the whole case was handled has so many red flags.
Novak Djokovic believes there were 'so many red flags' in Jannik Sinner's anti-doping case
World No 1 Sinner failed two tests in March of last year, with traces of the anabolic steroid clostebol found in his system, but did not miss a single Grand Slam during his three-month ban
Djokovic shared his thoughts on the Italian's ban during an interview with Piers Morgan (left)
'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 was very, very odd.'
He added: '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.'
Djokovic is far from alone in criticising the handling of the case. The feeling among many in the locker room is that a lesser-known player in similar circumstances would have been dealt with far more harshly.
While the Serb hit out at 'favouritism' at the time, three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka posted on social media that he 'doesn't believe in clean sport anymore.'
Rubbishing allegations of favouritism or preferential treatment, a senior figure at Wada described Sinner's case as 'a million miles away from doping' back in February.
'This was a case that was a million miles away from doping,' WADA general counsel Ross Wenzel told BBC Sport.
'The scientific feedback that we received was that this could not be a case of intentional doping, including micro-dosing.'
In a statement released in February confirming Sinner's ban, the agency said: 'The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) confirms that it has entered into a case resolution agreement in the case of Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner, with the player accepting a three-month period of ineligibility for an anti-doping rule violation that led to him testing positive for clostebol, a prohibited substance, in March 2024.
The three-month ban meant he did not miss a single Grand Slam (pictured winning Wimbledon)
Djokovic claims Sinner was given preferential treatment - an allegation rubbished by WADA
'In September, WADA lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the case of Mr. Sinner, who had been found by an Independent Tribunal to bear no fault or negligence.'
WADA went on to state that Sinner 'did not intend to cheat' and that the exposure to clostebol happened 'without his knowledge' and 'did not provide any performance-enhancing benefit'.
As to the continuing impact of the case on Sinner - who won the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year and has four Slams overall - Djokovic drew a comparison to his own refusal to be vaccinated against Covid 19, a decision which saw him spectacularly deported from Australia on the eve of the Open in 2022.
'That cloud will follow him as the cloud of Covid will follow me, for the rest of our careers,' said the 38-year-old. 'It was something that was so big…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.'
On his Covid furore, Djokovic said: 'The only thing I would add — not to really dig deeper into this whole situation on Covid and vaccination — is that I was never a proponent of anti-vax or pro-vax. I was always freedom of choice. And that was misinterpreted.'
Djokovic hinted last week - after winning the Hellenic Open in Athens - that he wants to continue playing into his 40s and defend his Olympic title in Los Angeles next year.
Many observers - including this one - believe he has close to zero chance of winning a 25th Grand Slam and Djokovic admitted to Morgan: 'Yes, I do have doubts that I can win Slams, particularly against these two guys (Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz). But at the same time, I know that while I'm still active and when I enter on the court, I don't care who is across the net. I always believe I'm better and I believe that I deserve to win, and I'm going to do everything I can do to win.'
