Novak Djokovic has sensationally accused tennis chiefs of favouritism after Jannik Sinner was served with just a three month ban.

The World Anti-Doping Agency had a ban of up to two years but reached a settlement after accepting the Italian was inadvertently contaminated by a banned substance and “did not intend to cheat”. However Djokovic, now coached by Scottish hero Andy Murray, has slammed the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) for their handling of the situation, saying: “It’s not a good image for our sport, that’s for sure.”

Australian Open winner Sinner, 23, was cleared of any wrongdoing by an independent panel after testing positive for banned substance clostebol in March 2024. He says that he was inadvertently contaminated by his physiotherapist, who was treating a cut on his hand with an over-the-counter spray, which was later found to contain the banned substance.

But Djokovic has been left angry with the way the situation was handled, saying: “There is a consensus, or I would say a majority of the players that I’ve talked to in the locker room, not just in the last few days, but also over the last few months, are not happy with the way this whole process has been handled.

“The majority of the players don’t feel that it’s fair. The majority of the players feel like there is favouritism happening. It seems like it appears that you can almost affect the outcome if you are a top player, if you have access to the top lawyers and whatnot.

“We have to choose. The inconsistency is something that frustrates all the players. It’s like, if you are going to treat every case individually or independently, which is what’s happening, then there is no consistency, then there is no transparency. Some cases are transparent, some are not.”

And 24 time Grand Slam champion Djokovic now hopes that the way the situation has been handled won’t be repeated, adding: “I hope that in the near future the governing bodies are going to come together, of our Tours and the tennis ecosystem, and try to find a more effective way to to deal with these processes. There is a kind of vague rule that I read that within a reasonable time you have to provide information where you’ve got a contaminated substance. And he provided it in this, as I understand, six-hour window.

“But it doesn’t say in the rules it’s a six-hour window. It’s ‘a reasonable time’. So what’s the reasonable time? In one case you can have a larger contamination, in some cases, you have a smaller one, like in his case. But the problem is that right now there is a lack of trust, generally, from the tennis players, both male and female, towards WADA and ITIA and the whole process.

“We are either going to agree that all the cases will be transparent from the beginning, or all will be kept private until they’re resolved. I have no opinion of that right now. I think it’s important to open the discussion and then let’s see what’s best for the sport.”

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