The full interview with the Serbian champion by Piers Morgan: “A story full of red flags. There was a lack of transparency, inconsistency, and then the convenience of a disqualification between Slams, so as not to miss anything…“

From the trailer of the interview, it was already clear that Novak Djokovic would not mince words: ”The doping issue is a cloud that will follow Jannik Sinner, just as the Covid cloud will follow me.” The interview by Piers Morgan, the well-known and controversial British journalist, with the former world number one delves into the Clostebol affair and tackles the issue in a direct manner. Djokovic reiterates concepts he had already expressed in the past: “I don’t think he did it on purpose, but obviously he is responsible.” “When it happened, I was genuinely shocked. I don’t think he did it on purpose. But the way the whole case was handled is full of red flags,“ Djokovic explained on the Piers Morgan Uncensored podcast. As he has argued in previous months, for Nole, the crucial point of the affair is the disparity in treatment. ”If he had been ranked 500th in the world, I think he would have been disqualified,” Morgan provokes. The Serbian does not hesitate to reply: “There was a lack of transparency, inconsistency. And also the convenience of a disqualification between Slams, so as not to miss anything: it was very, very strange. So I really don’t like how that case was handled. You could hear the voices of many other players, both men and women, who had been in similar situations, complaining in the media that it was preferential treatment.”

The agreement between Jannik Sinner and WADA, signed in early February, resulted in a three-month suspension for the Italian tennis player. This sanction meant he missed the Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, and Madrid, but none of the Slam events. “I want to believe him,” Djokovic continues, “I don’t think he did it on purpose, but obviously he is responsible. The rules say this: you are responsible when something like this happens. However, when you see other athletes receiving years of disqualification for similar incidents, and in this case it was three months, it’s not fair.” Djokovic’s opinion on the Clostebol case is not a direct attack on Sinner, who in 2025 reached all four Slam finals, winning two: “It’s not easy for him. I feel empathy and compassion. He has managed the media storm that flares up from time to time with great maturity and consistency. I congratulate him: despite everything, he continues to dominate and play extraordinarily well, winning Slams.”