Former world number one
John McEnroe believes that
doping scandals do not damage tennis. There has been a lot of voice raised about the recent doping scandals in the sport, which involved two world number one, men's reigning top player in ATP rankings, Italy’s
Jannik Sinner and Poland’s Iga Swiatek.
Australia’s
Nick Kyrgios has been the most vocal voice about
the doping cases. In a recent press conference, he once again highlighted the importance of the issue and stated that two world number
one testing positive in a dope test gives a ‘horrible’ look to the sport.
“Okay, he [Sinner] is No 1 in the world, he is an amazing
tennis player,” he said as quoted in a report by Tennis 365. “I never said he’s
not. I just think the treatment has to be fair for everyone. I just think that
it’s been handled horrifically in our sport. Two world No 1s [Sinner and Iga
Swiatek] both getting done for doping is disgusting for our sport. It’s a
horrible look. Yeah, the tennis integrity right now, and everyone knows it, but
no one wants to speak about it, it’s awful. It’s actually awful. And it’s not
okay.”
Former world number one McEnroe, who is now a famous
commentator as well, has recently spoken to the media ahead of the Australian
Open, where he disagreed with the comments of the former world number 13 and
suggested that despite these positive doping tests, tennis remains a much cleaner
sport compared to other sports in the world.
"I don't think it has done any damage because if you
look, it's way worse in the other sports," he said, as quoted in a report
by ESPN. "In my opinion tennis is cleaner than any other sport. Now that
doesn't mean there are not issues." However, interestingly, the
65-year-old went on to highlight that he did not like the fact that Sinner’s
doping verdict was not revealed until the US Open. "That part [where Sinner’s
failed doping tests were not revealed] I really don't like," he said.