Novak Djokovic says a majority of tennis players have lost faith in the anti-doping authorities following Jannik Sinner’s three-month ban, and there is a widespread feeling that ‘partialism’ is being shown to the sport’s biggest stars. The 24-time major winner called on the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Tennis Integrity Agency to overhaul their processes for dealing with doping cases “because the system and the structure obviously doesn’t work.”

"Right now, there is a general lack of trust from the tennis players, both male and female, toward WADA and ITIA and the whole process,” Djokovic said at the Qatar Open.

Top-ranked Sinner reached a deal with WADA on Saturday to accept a ban that will have him back playing in time for the French Open in May without having to miss a single Grand Slam tournament. 

That came after the International Tennis Integrity Agency had decided not to suspend Sinner for what it judged was accidental contamination by a banned anabolic steroid last March. 

“It’s not a good image for our sport, that’s for sure,” Djokovic added. 

“There’s a majority of the players that I’ve talked to in the locker room, not just in the last few days, but also last few months, that are not happy with the way this whole process (for Sinner) has been handled.”

He concluded, “A majority of the players don’t feel that it’s fair. A majority of the players feel like there is favouritism happening. 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.”