Article by Luminița Paul – Published on Wednesday, 12 November 2025, 12:09 / Updated on Wednesday, 12 November 2025 12:10
Former ATP leader Novak Djokovic (38) has spoken about Jannik Sinner's (24) clostebol doping case, saying it is not something that will go away completely. The multiple Grand Slam champion also questioned the way the whole situation was handled.
Novak Djokovicabsent from the ATP Finals, discussed in an extensive interview with Piers Morgan, the journalist who criticized him for not getting vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among the topics was the one related to the doping case of the current world number 1. The Serb said the length and timing of Jannik Sinner's suspension this year for an involuntary anti-doping rule violation is “BIZARRE” and that this case will hang like a cloud over the four-time Grand Slam champion for the rest of his career.
Sinner was suspended for three months following a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency in February after authorities accepted the anabolic agent clostebol had inadvertently entered his system through massages by his then-physiotherapist at Indian Wells in March 2024.
Djokovic said he did not believe Sinner had acted deliberately, but added that the controversy over the perceived disparity between Sinner's treatment and that of lesser-known athletes would linger around the Italian, as would his own deportation from Australia in 2022 over his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Novak Djokovic: “There is a lack of transparency, an inconsistency”
“That cloud will follow him just like the COVID cloud will follow me, for the rest of his career, or for that matter my career”, said Djokovic in the interview given to Piers Morgan.
“It's just something that… was so important, and when something like that happens, over time it will go away, but I don't think it will go away completely. There will always be a certain group of people who will try to bring this topic up again“.
“That cloud will follow him as the cloud of Covid will follow me.”@DjokerNole discusses Jannik Sinner's doping ban: 'I think that he didn't do it on purpose. But the way the whole case was handled is so many red flags.”
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📺 https://t.co/gCAjSqkDwA@piersmorgan pic.twitter.com/NCr1ifMzBW
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) November 11, 2025
Djokovic raised questions about how Sinner's case was handled after the 24-year-old was cleared to return to court in May without missing a Grand Slam in time to take part in Rome and then Roland Garros.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency remained firm in its position that all cases are dealt with on the basis of facts and evidence, and not on the basis of a player's name, nationality or ranking.
“There is a lack of transparency, an inconsistency, a convenience of the ban, between the Grand Slams so that he doesn't miss the others – it's just very, very strangeDjokovic added.
“I don't like the way the case was handled at all and so many other players, both male and female, who have had similar situations have been heard speaking in the media and complaining that it was preferential treatment“, concluded the Serb.
