Serena Williams has expressed surprise over the length of Jannik Sinner’s ban from tennis, joking that she would have been stripped of her grand slam titles had she failed a drugs test.
Sinner is serving a three-month suspension from the sport after reaching a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) following two positive tests last year.
The world No 1 was cleared of wrongdoing for the presence of steroid clostebol in his system, with the 23-year-old suggesting he had been contaminated while being given a massage by his fitness trainer.
Wada had been seeking a ban of up to two years before reaching the settlement having launched an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) over the decision by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) not to suspend Sinner.
The perceived leniency of the ban has been questioned by a number of figures in the sport, including Novak Djokovic, and Williams has now expressed her belief that she would have been treated differently under the same circumstances.
“I love the guy, I love this game. He’s great for the sport,” the 23-time grand slam champion said to Time magazine in praise of Sinner.
“I’ve been put down so much, I don’t want to bring anyone down. Men’s tennis needs 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.”
Williams admitted that Sinner’s situation made her reflect on the experience of Maria Sharapova, a long-time rival on the court.
Sharapova had a two-year ban reduced to 15 months on appeal in 2016 after testing positive for meldonium, with Cas finding that she bore “no significant fault” for ingesting the substance.
Williams added: “Just weirdly and oddly, I can’t help but think about Maria all this time. I can’t help but feel for her.”
Sinner is set to return to tennis at the Italian Open in May. He will be available to play in the French Open, the year’s second grand slam, having secured his third major title at the Australian Open in January.
His suspension came after Iga Swiatek, his female counterpart at the top of the world rankings, accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for trimetazidine, a banned heart drug.
