Jessica Pegula calls WADA’s treatment of Jannik Sinner’s doping situation a “horrible look for the sport”
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner recently accepted WADA's suspension from February 9 to May 5, following his doping saga.
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Jessica Pegula (in circle) and Jannik Sinner (via Instagram)
World No. 5 Jessica Pegula believes that the handling of the recent doping cases of top tennis players Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek has revealed that the “process is completely broken”. Meanwhile, World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka admitted that she cannot trust the tennis anti-doping system and has become “too scared” of it.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday ahead of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Pegula remarked that the inconsistencies in the way cases are being processed and judged creates an unfair environment for all tennis players. The American added that the body seemed to make up their own ruling with whatever decisions and factors they took into consideration.
If you’re clean or not, the process is completely broken… I think it needs to be seriously looked at and considered. I feel like they have so much power to ruin someone’s career, as well. I think there needs to be something done about that because it just seems really unfair… I don’t think any of the players trust the process at all right now. Zero. It’s just a horrible look for the sport.
Jessica Pegula told the reporters
Jessica Pegula commenced her 2025 season with the Adelaide International, where she lost in the finals to compatriot Madison Keys, who later went on to clinch her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open 2025. Meanwhile, Pegula lost to Olga Danilovic in the third round of the Australian Open.
Jessica Pegula: “If you're clean or not, the process is completely broken.”https://t.co/yzyRV6Gujc pic.twitter.com/hC8RwckTvM
— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) February 16, 2025
Pegula then competed at the Qatar Open, where she lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova in the quarterfinals. Pegula will now compete at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she will face Liudmila Samsonova in the opening round.
Jannik Sinner’s doping saga so far
Jannik Sinner’s long doping saga concluded on Saturday after he settled for a three-month ban from the sport. The World No. 1 admitted “partial responsibility” for team mistakes, particularly of his physiotherapist’s, from whose spray use he got contaminated. This led to him testing positive twice for traces of clostebol in March last year.
Sinner was facing a potential ban of two years after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The WADA wanted to challenge the exoneration by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).
In a surprising move, WADA withdrew its appeal and came to an agreement with Sinner to accept a suspension from February 9 to May 5. In a statement, WADA stated that “Sinner did not intend to cheat” but that he would serve his suspension as he is responsible for the actions of his entourage.
Sinner will be eligible for his home Masters event in Rome, where he may likely make his comeback, with the tournament starting on May 7. Sinner will also be back in time for the next Grand Slam tournament, with the Roland Garros in Paris beginning May 25th. Many have questioned the timing of the suspension as well where Sinner will not be missing any Grand Slam events and will miss out on mostly clay events.
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Lakshya Chopra
(2645 Articles Published)