By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday February 16, 2025
Photo: Matthew Calvis
World No.5 and 2024 US Open runner-up Jessica Pegula has weighed in with her thoughts on Jannik Sinner’s settlement with WADA – World Anti Doping Agency – and what she perceives to be a lack of trust in a “broken” anti-doping system from the player’s perspective.
Pegula called out a broken system for a lack of rhyme and reason in its decision-making process.
“My reaction is that, whether you think he did or you don't, or whatever side you're on, the process just seems to be completely not a process,” the American told reporters ahead of her appearance at this week’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai.
“It seems to just kind of be whatever decisions and factors they take into consideration, and they just kind of make up their own ruling. I don't really understand how that's fair for athletes, how it's fair for players when there's just so much inconsistency and you have no idea.
“If you're clean or not, the process is completely broken. I think it needs to be seriously looked at and considered.”
Sinner was given a three-month ban, which will keep him out of action until May 4th. Maybe wonder how the Italian was able to engineer complicity from WADA after the agency had made it a point to submit an appeal that could have resulted in a much stiffer penalty. WADA withdrew its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for sport in lieu of the settlement.
Reactions to the case came both in support and against the ruling. Stan Wawrinka, three-time major champion tweeted: “I don’t believe in clean sport anymore.”
Feliciano Lopez, former World No.12 and current tournament director in Madrid, replied and insinuated that Sinner got a harsher punishment than he deserved.
“It’s very clear he hasn’t done anything to enhance his performance, that’s proven,” he wrote. “He’s taking full responsibility for others’ mistake and three months suspension, consequently. Longer suspension would’ve made the sport cleaner? I don’t think so.”
Confusion reigns supreme right now, and players don’t feel safe in this environment.
Pegula joins a chorus of top pros who are unhappy with the system as it currently exists. Money certainly plays a role, as players with bigger financial means seem to be able to navigate the pitfalls of the system, but finances didn’t help Maria Sharapova or Simona Halep, as each had their career sabotaged by doping bans that they deemed to be unfair.
“I feel like they have so much power to ruin someone’s career as well, and I think there needs to be something done about that, because it just seems really unfair,” she said, adding: “I don’t think any of the players trust the process right now, at all. From the past couple of years there seems to be no rhyme or reason for whatever they decide, so I’m not really that shocked that all of the sudden there is a settlement, because that’s kind of what they’ve been doing.”