‘Process needs to be up to date’ – Coco Gauff weighs in on Jannik Sinner doping ban
Jannik Sinner's doping ban continues to dominate the world of tennis.
Coco Gauff has become the latest star to react to the news, raising fears that the procedure in which a player gets banned might be outdated.
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Last week, world number one Jannik Sinner was banned from tennis for three months over two failed drugs tests in March 2024.
Sinner, who won the Australian Open in January, reached a settlement with WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) which will see him suspended from February 9 until May 4.
WADA said it accepted Sinner's explanation that the banned substance clostebol was inadvertently delivered to the tennis star.
Sinner has explained that he was contaminated by his physiotherapist, who was treating a cut on his hand with an over-the-counter spray, which was later found to contain the banned substance.
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WADA has since reiterated that the Italian had not intentionally doped and this reflects the length of his ban.
"This was a case that was a million miles away from doping," WADA general counsel Ross Wenzel said.
"The scientific feedback that we received was that this could not be a case of intentional doping, including micro-dosing."
However, that hasn't stopped tennis stars raising concerns about the way in which the ban was settled upon.
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Gauff, who is playing in the Dubai Duty Free Championships, gave her verdict on Sinner's case during her pre-tournament press conference.
“Me personally, I'm not on any supplements or vitamins,” said Gauff. “I only take Advil because I get scared to take medicine. But I definitely think the process needs to be a bit more up to date.
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“I remember one time I was, like, sick, I didn't know what I could take. I got a response two or three days later. At that point, don't need it.
"But yeah, I definitely think the process needs to be more up to date when it comes to players knowing what we can and can't take.”
In a similar vein, 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic also called out the process, which he says has left players without trust in the system.
"It's not a good image for our sport, that's for sure," Djokovic said.
"The majority of the players feel like there is favouritism happening. It seems like it appears that you can almost affect the outcome if you are a top player, if you have access to the top lawyers and whatnot.
"Swiatek and Sinner are innocent and it's proven, unless it's proven otherwise. So right now we know they're innocent," he added.
"We've seen on social media, Simona Halep and Tara Moore and some other players that are maybe less known, that have been struggling to resolve their cases for years or have gotten the ban for years."
Halep was initially handed a whopping four-year suspension in 2022 after returning a positive test which was later reduced to nine months.
British player Moore was also given a ban in 2022 which was later overturned after a tribunal found that contaminated meat was the cause of the banned substances she tested positive for.
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Other players have not held back. Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka took to social media to issue a damning verdict on Sinner.
“I don’t believe in a clean sport anymore,” wrote Wawrinka on X.
Although Feliciano Lopez, Spain’s former world No. 12, responded in defence of Sinner: “He’s taking full responsibility for the mistakes of others. A longer suspension would have made the sport cleaner? I don’t think so.”
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The debate about the handling of Sinner's case will likely persist for the weeks to come.
Meanwhile the Italian will have wait on the sidelines until his return to tennis in May.
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