The subject is delicate. So when we talk about doping control in tennis, some people play it easy. Even more so when it concerns the all-powerful figure of world number 1, Novak Djokovic, who divides lovers of the yellow ball.
The Serbian player and his team refused to be tested last Thursday during the round of 16 of the Davis Cup, which ended this Sunday with a victory for Italy. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), responsible for the fight against doping at the tournament, wanted to test Djokovic 1h30 before his meeting against the Briton Cameron Norrie. He refused so as not to break his pre-match routine. “In twenty years of career, this had never happened to me,” he said. The Serb finally won his case by deferring control after the meeting, but fueled yet another controversy about him.
“You have no right to refuse an inspection,” thundered Marc Madiot, the manager of the Groupama-FDJ cycling team, on RMC. If the anti-doping agency does its job, Mr. Djokovic must be suspended. » Contacted, the double winner of Paris-Roubaix reiterates his point of view: “On a bike if you refuse a test, it is a finding of deficiency, you are positive. The rules are the same for all sports. »
“It’s a trial that is completely false”
While taking care to emphasize that he is “not a defender of Novak”, Arnaud Clément, the former captain of the French Davis Cup team, first ensures that he has “never been asked for a control before competition, even less 1h30 before the match”. Then the former player adds: “When we’re competing, we’re focused on the day’s program and it doesn’t take thirty seconds to get tested. It’s a real process, very secure with administration, paperwork and waiting…”
At the RMC microphone, Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli reacted in the same direction. “The preparation routines are very long (in tennis), she emphasized. And there is a unanimous rule, checks are always done after the match. As there is a dehydration effect, the urinary concentration is greater. This is making a lawsuit that is completely false. It’s not knowing the rules, not having been into them. »
The “rules” put forward by Bartoli are, however, those which apply on the ATP circuit and during the four Grand Slam tournaments, during which the tests are necessarily carried out after the matches. However, during these Davis Cup final phases, it is those of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) which are in force. And in this case, they authorize these “surprise tests” which can be carried out at any time during the competition. The team captains had also been informed of this at the start of the tournament.
But the ITIA nevertheless clarified to L’Équipe: “The first thing to say is that Djokovic did not refuse the test. The rules state that when a player is notified, they must provide a sample as soon as they can.”
“An unexpected check 1h30 before the event can be destabilizing,” says Éric Bouvat, the former doctor of the AG2R cycling team. If it was the first time he was tested before a match, I can understand that he did not want to, not used to it, that it would be unwelcome. I’m not blaming Djokovic, he can lose his match if something goes wrong 1h30 before. »
“It’s not because this one goes badly that he’s doping”
However, it is complicated to compare pre-competition between different sports. “I’m not opposing cycling and tennis, we just don’t approach the start in the same mental conditions,” continues Éric Bouvat. The concentration of the tennis player has nothing to do with that of a cyclist who is going to cycle for 200 km and who can allow himself to be less in his bubble.” “Djoko has had hundreds of tests, just because this one goes wrong doesn’t mean he’s doping. It doesn’t make sense,” concludes the Isère doctor.
The incident nevertheless reveals a fundamental problem: how to carry out controls as close as possible to the tests? During the Tour de France, Éric Bouvat’s men sometimes got up at dawn to be tested. “No one ever complained otherwise it would have been suspicious,” he says. But it didn’t necessarily suit me. It happened that the conductor showed up when we were already on the bus to go to departure! Some then left alone by car, others had to stay in the hotel… In cycling we also fumbled at the beginning. »
According to him, the testing process should be better organized. “There are controllers who arrive like cowboys and who can put off the athlete and his management,” he emphasizes. In cycling we are lucky to have people who know the industry well. In tennis like this, we need to better control the planning and rhythm of the players to position ourselves at the right time. »
Tennis, 16th most controlled sport in France
Last year, a Daily Mail investigation highlighted the favors granted to the best tennis players regarding doping tests. ” It’s wrong ! replies Arnaud Clément. We have the impression that there is a form of impunity in tennis, but the players will tell you the opposite, the best players are tested dozens of times a year, and there are positive cases. »
The English daily revealed that the ITF left players free to organize their own anti-doping controls. Another complaint against the global body: the latter is accused of “inflating” the number of tests carried out.
On the side of the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) if the number of tests increases each year in the world of tennis – 65 in 2019, 74 in 2020, 108 in 2021, 128 in 2022 – the world of the yellow ball remains weakly concerned. In 2022, tennis was only the 16th most controlled sport behind skiing, rowing and canoeing. It only accounted for 1.25% of the agency’s tests, compared to 19% for rugby, 14% for football or even 10% for cycling.
If last week’s event is the talk of the town, it’s also because of Djokovic’s history. In 2022, during the Paris Master 1000 in Bercy, a video of the Serbian staff preparing a water bottle circulated on the networks. Questioned at a press conference, the player came away with a touch of irony, “It’s a magic potion”, he replied without specifying the contents of the drink.
In 2016, the British Andy Murray raised suspicions of doping against his opponents. “Have I ever had suspicions about anyone?” Yes “. A sentence which caused a strong reaction from Djokovic’s staff who felt implicitly targeted.
A “Lance Armstrong approach”
The following year, former Canadian player Hélène Pelletier also expressed suspicions regarding Novak’s elbow injury, suspecting him of a hidden suspension. “Having spoken to friends and colleagues who are plugged into the tennis world and who travel the tour full time, some of them seem to think that Novak Djokovic, who ended his season, would have been convinced of doping and that he would have been protected by the ATP,” she said, also attracting the wrath of the Serbian clan.
In addition to these rumors, the world number 1 experienced clashes with the world of anti-doping during this same period. His comments made during the 2016 Laureus World Sports Awards, “as long as we don’t have proof that this game (tennis) is not clean, then it is clean”, caused the former boss of the tennis court to react. ‘AMA. Dick Pound did not hesitate to tackle the Serbian world number one, saying that it was a “Lance Armstrong approach”.
The Serbian player, however, claimed that the American cyclist was “a disgrace to the sport”. “Tennis players are among the cleanest athletes,” he explained. I don’t mind being tested 10, 20 or 30 times a year.” As long as it’s when he’s willing.
2023-11-30 18:23:00
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