Serena Williams attends the 2024 ESPY Awards at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California, US, July 11, 2024. — Reuters
American nice Serena Williams mentioned she would have been banned for 20 years and stripped of her Grand Slam titles had she failed drug checks like males’s world primary Jannik Sinner did final 12 months.
Sinner accepted a three-month ban in February following an settlement with the World Anti-Doping Company, which challenged an unbiased tribunal’s resolution to clear him of wrongdoing after two constructive checks for the anabolic agent clostebol.
“I love the guy, love this game,” Williams, who retired in 2022 after profitable 23 Grand Slam trophies, instructed Time Journal.
“He is nice for the game. I have been put down a lot, I do not need to carry anybody down. Males’s tennis wants him.
“(But) if I did that, I would have gotten 20 years. Let’s be honest. I would have gotten Grand Slams taken away from me.”
Reuters has contacted Sinner’s staff and WADA for remark.
Reigning Australian Open and US Open champion Sinner, whose ban will finish on Might 4, has all the time maintained his innocence although his case raised questions on whether or not he had acquired preferential therapy from the authorities.
Iga Swiatek’s case additionally triggered some shock with the ladies’s world quantity two accepting a one-month suspension in November after testing constructive for the banned substance trimetazidine.
Former world primary 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 acquired her in hassle.
