Victoria Azarenka makes feelings clear on why Jannik Sinner's doping verdict made her question integrity of tennis

WTA star Victoria Azarenka recently expressed her thoughts about the presence of biases in anti-doping laws and Jannik Sinner's recent ban. According to the Belarusian player, the proceedings with Sinner and several other players' cases had an uneven line of difference, depending upon the ranks and resources of players. She personally vouched for the Italian player's kind nature but stood against him amid the doping allegations.

World No.1 ATP star Jannik Sinner served a three-month doping ban from February 9 to May 4, 2025, after testing positive for clostebol, a banned substance that he linked to a spray used by his physiotherapist. Several players, including Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios, felt that the punishment was too light and showed signs of favoritism. They drew comparisons to longer bans imposed on players like Simona Halep for similar or lesser violations.

After winning her round of 128 showdown against Camila Osorio at the ongoing Italian Open, Victoria Azarenka shared her stance about Jannik Sinner's doping saga and the 3-month ban imposed on him. According to her, Sinner personally is a preferable person but the proceedings in his case were not satisfactory.

“I really like Jannik, personally. I think he’s a great guy. He’s always been very sweet to me. He seems like a pretty humble person. In terms of professionalism, I think there are discrepancies where I don’t believe all players are treated the same. It’s not only his case. I think there are a lot of different questions in terms of how things were conducted," she said, in a post-match interview quoted by tennis.com.

The former No. 1 also took a firm stance for the sport's wellbeing, making it clear that she would never want to see the growth of tennis compromised at any cost.

"I just want to see our sport grow, honestly...This sport gave me so much in my life, and I want to see it grow, become bigger, and keep being a dominant sport for women. There’s a lot of sports coming up and giving us competition," she added.

Jannik Sinner is all set to participate at the Italian Open after serving a 3-month-long break. The Italian will begin his campaign, starting from Friday, May 9.

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Jannik Sinner sees not missing major events as a silver lining amid doping ban

Jannik Sinner at the Internazionali BNL D'Italia 2025 - Day One - Source: Getty

Jannik Sinner recently addressed the psychological struggles he faced while accepting the 3-month-long ban. The Italian player, despite his firm belief of not being the one at fault, mentioned how he accepted the decision to turn down the heat for good. However, he also expressed relief over not missing any major events while being on the sidelines.

"Of course, when you go to court, it can go both ways - nothing or a lot. I didn't want to do it [agree to a settlement] in the beginning, so it was not easy for me to accept it because I knew what really happened. But sometimes we have to choose the best in a very bad moment, and that's what we did. For me personally, it's good news that there are not the Grand Slams included," Sinner said in a pre-event press conference at the Italian Open.

The period of Jannik Sinner's doping ban fortunately didn't deprive him of many opportunities. It started after he clinched his third Grand Slam title by defeating Alexander Zverev in the 2025 Australian Open final. Although the 23-year-old couldn't compete in this year's four Masters 1000 events, he still didn't miss out on any Grand Slam opportunities, as he looks forward to competing at the upcoming French Open.