Pegula Claims Anti-Doping Process 'Is Completely Broken' After Sinner Resolution
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Jessica Pegula strongly criticized the handling of doping cases after Jannik Sinner's resolution with the World Anti-Doping Agency and does not think there are consistent rules.
Many were left stunned by WADA and Sinner announcing they had agreed to end the case and avoid the appeal hearing scheduled for April at the Court of Arbitration for Sport by giving the Italian a three-month ban.
WADA had initially appealed the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and indicated that it wanted a ban of between one and two years imposed. That made the case resolution even more surprising to many.
Speaking to The National ahead of the Dubai Championships, Pegula feels there is inconsistency in the rulings and how cases are handled and does not think that is fair to the athletes since they could be one of those treated less favorably.
"I think my reaction is that, whether you think he did or you don’t, or whatever side you're on, the process just seems to be completely like not a process. It seems to just kind of be whatever decisions and factors they take into consideration, and they just kind of make up their own ruling."
"I don’t really understand how that’s fair for athletes, how it’s fair for players when there’s just so much inconsistency and you have no idea.
The former WTA Finals runner-up thinks the system is broken and that the agencies tasked with keeping tennis and sport clean have too much power to ruin athletes' lives based on how they handle individual cases.
"If you’re clean or not, the process is completely broken. I think it needs to be seriously looked at and considered. I feel like they have so much power to ruin someone's career, as well."
"I think there needs to be something done about that because it just seems really unfair. I don’t think any of the players trust the process at all right now. Zero. It’s just a horrible look for the sport."
While many were shocked by Sinner and WADA's case resolution, Pegula is not surprised since she believes there has been no consistent logic to how the anti-doping agencies have managed cases in the last few years.
"There seems to be no rhyme or reason for whatever they decide. So I'm not really shocked that all of a sudden it's a settlement, because that's kind of what they've been doing, it doesn't seem to make sense for anything. So, I can't say I'm completely surprised, but I'm sure they'll come up with another reason for how that happened."
Pegula is not the only player or organization unhappy with Sinner's case resolution. Nick Kyrgios, the ATP world No. 1's most vocal critic since the case became public in August, called it a dark day for tennis and believes that fairness does not exist in tennis.
The Professional Tennis Players Association, co-founded by Novak Djokovic, released a strongly worded statement that directly accused anti-doping agencies of bias and claimed that change was coming without specifying how it would be achieved.
Although Sinner is undoubtedly relieved to avoid going to court over the case, the public reaction after the settlement will continue in the coming days.
