INTERNATIONAL: Serena Williams shared that if she had failed a drug test like Jannik Sinner, she would have possibly been banned for 20 years.
Sinner, who is currently ranked number one in men’s tennis, is serving a three-month suspension after testing positive twice for a banned substance called clostebol in March 2024. The athlete, who currently holds the Australian Open and US Open titles, is expected to make his comeback at the Italian Open on May 7.
Williams recently gave an interview to Time Magazine. In a social media post, the athlete shared this achievement and said: “@TIME‘s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the world is out. I’m honoured to be a part of this group.”
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Netizens showed their support in the comments section by saying: “Congratulations! Always an inspiration❤️”, “We’ve been influenced 😍 Congrats, Serena!”, “YES!!!! 👏🙌❤️ So proud of u!!!”, and “BREATH TAKING + insanely well deserved!!!!!! 🙌❤️💯”.
In the interview, Serena talked about Sinner and said: “Fantastic personality. I love the guy, I love this game. He’s great for the sport.”
She also added: “I’ve been put down so much, I don’t want to bring anyone down. Men’s tennis needs him… If I did that [tested positive for doping], I would have gotten 20 years. Let’s be honest. I would have gotten Grand Slams taken away from me.”
The former world No. 1 joked that if she had been involved in a performance-enhancing drug scandal like Jannik Sinner, she would’ve ended up “in jail”. Moreover, she also showed support for Maria Sharapova, who was banned for two years in 2016 after testing positive for meldonium. Like Sinner’s case, Sharapova’s doping was considered unintentional but she was still banned for two years. The ban was later reduced to 15 months after an appeal.
“Just weirdly and oddly, I can’t help but think about Maria all this time… I can’t help but feel for her,” Williams said.
Novak Djokovic, who has 24 Grand Slam titles, commented that Sinner was shown “favouritism” in his doping case. The athlete said: “A majority of the players don’t feel that it’s fair… A 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.”
Unfortunately, several top-ranked players in tennis have failed drug tests. In 2024, Iga Swiatek served a one-month ban after testing positive for trimetazidine. Former world No. 1 Simona Halep received a much harsher punishment of four years after testing positive for roxadustat.
Jannik Sinner’s comeback
Sinner is scheduled to make his comeback at the Italian Open on May 7. This tournament is his home ATP Masters 1000 event. He will make history as the first Italian player to play in the Rome Masters as the world number one.
