The tennis star has warned Jannik Sinner that his three-month doping suspension will persist over his career like a "cloud" – and raised doubts about the timing of the sanction in the previous season.
Details of the Suspension
Sinner completed a three-month prohibition in February 2025 after the global anti-doping body accepted his explanation that a banned anabolic steroid, the steroid clostebol, had been ingested unintentionally.
"This shadow will trail him just as the Covid controversy will follow me, for the remainder of our respective careers," Djokovic stated in a discussion on a popular YouTube program.
"It's just something that, it was so significant, and after such events, over time it will fade, but I believe it won't fully vanish. There will inevitably exist a certain group of people that will always try to bring that forward."
Djokovic's Perspective
Djokovic expressed belief that Sinner, his frequent training companion, "didn't do it on purpose", but he proceeded to question how the Italian managed to complete his ban without sitting out any major tournaments.
"There is the lack of transparency, the irregularity, the convenient timing of the suspension occurring between major events, so he doesn't miss out the others – it's just it was very, very odd," Djokovic added.
Broader Tennis Community Response
"I am dissatisfied with how the situation was managed and you could hear numerous fellow athletes, both male and female, who had comparable circumstances voicing their concerns publicly and complaining that it was a preferable treatment."
