Novak Djokovic weighs in on Jannik Sinner saga and demands tennis rule change

Novak Djokovic has called for “change” in the rules after the controversy surrounding Jannik Sinner’s doping case - and claimed his player’s union was set up to tackle these issues.

Dan Evans has claimed the world No.1 was “lucky” to have his case heard quickly to allow him to play this week’s US Open.

The Italian tested positive for anabolic steroid clostebol in March and was cleared by an independent tribunal on Monday.

But other players have complained about the rapid justice given to Sinner while other cases have taken months and years.

Defending champion Djokovic, who is seeking a record 25th Grand Slam singles title, has set up the Professional Tennis Players Association as a union to fight for player’s rights.

And the Serbian superstar said: “These kinds of instances are the very reason why we founded the PTPA that is always advocating for fair protocols, clear protocols for standardised approaches to these kinds of cases.

“I understand the frustration of the players is there because of lack of consistency. As I understood, his case was cleared the moment basically it was announced. But, you know, I think five or six months passed since the news was brought to him and his team.

“There are a lot of issues in the system. We see a lack of standardised and clear protocols. I can understand the sentiments of a lot of players that are questioning whether they are treated the same.

Hopefully the governing bodies of our sport will be able to learn from this case and have a better approach for the future. I think collectively there has to be a change, and I think that's obvious.

“Many players -- without naming any of them -- I'm sure you know already who these players are, have had similar or same, pretty much the same cases, where they haven't had the same outcome, and now the question is whether it is a case of the funds, whether a player can afford to pay a significant amount of money for a law firm that would then more efficiently represent his or her case.

“I don't know. Is that a case or not? That's something really I feel like we have to collectively investigate more, to look into the system and understand how these cases don't happen, meaning not the case itself, but how we can standardize everything so that every player, regardless of his ranking or status or profile, is able to get the same kind of treatment.

So, yeah, I would say that's probably the overall, I guess, my opinion and observation of this entire case of what we have been reading and observing and talking about the last few days.

No man has retained the US Open title since Roger Federer in 2008. The new Olympic champion, who has won the title in 2011, 2015, 2018 and 2023, said: “I didn't know about that. I knew it was probably the case for five, ten years, but I didn't know it was that long.

“Hopefully that changes this year. I mean, that's the goal. The goal is always for me to try to go all the way to the finals and fight for the trophy. I mean, that kind of mindset or approach is no different for me this year.

“People would ask me, now that you have basically won everything with the golden medal, what else is there to win? I still feel the drive. I still have the competitive spirit. I still want to make more history and enjoy myself on the tour. I still hope to inspire many young people to watch tennis, play tennis.

“Those are some of the reasons why I still keep on going. Grand Slams are the pillars of our sport. They are "the" most important historical tennis events that we have. So if you don't get pumped and inspired to play your best tennis at Grand Slams, it's hard to do that anywhere else.

“The US Open is a Slam that holds the biggest tennis stadium in the world. The night sessions at the US Open are very famous, the most famous in our sport.

“I'm going to play my first match here Monday night, so I can't wait to be under the lights. The noise, the energy of the stadium is just different from anything else. I look forward to it.”

Djokovic will begin his title defence against Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot in the night session in the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday.