Serena Williams has claimed she would have been stripped of Grand Slam titles and given a 20-year ban had she failed a medication check within the method of Jannik Sinner.
Sinner is serving a three-month suspension that expires on Could 4 after returning two optimistic exams for the banned anabolic steroid clostebol final yr.
The 23-year-old from Italy, who stays world No 1 regardless of his absence, reached an settlement with the World Anti-Doping Company (WADA) after claiming he had been inadvertently contaminated whereas being massaged by a member of his crew.
WADA accepted the present Australian Open and US Open champion “did not intend to cheat” and that the outcome was on account of “negligence of members of his entourage”.
Williams, who gained 23 Grand Slam titles in a 27-year skilled profession, suggests he has been handled leniently.
“Fantastic personality. I love the guy, I love this game. He’s great for the sport,” she informed Time Journal.
“I have been put down a lot, I do not need to convey anybody down. Males’s tennis wants 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.”
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Sinner says his three-month doping ban was unfair as a result of he’s harmless
Iga Swiatek’s case additionally precipitated some shock, with the ladies’s world No 2 accepting a one-month suspension in November after testing optimistic for the banned substance trimetazidine.
Former world No 1 Simona Halep was additionally banned regardless of denying knowingly taking the banned drug roxadustat and her four-year suspension was lower to 9 months in 2024 after an enchantment at sport’s highest court docket.
Williams additionally mentioned she took additional care with what she put into her physique throughout her profession in case she ingested one thing that bought her in hassle.
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