Contamination is the new fear in tennis. Players are more paranoid than ever about what goes into their bodies. Just ask Emma Raducanu. Ahead of the Australian Open, she was bitten by jumping ants but refused to take anything for it. Why? She didn’t want to risk contamination. What if it results in a positive doping test? Aryna Sabalenka shared that concern. When asked about the doping system, she said, “I don’t see how I can trust the system.”

In a sport where supplements are a necessity, as Daniil Medvedev pointed out, the risk of contamination is only growing. Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek have already been caught in the storm. Now, Serena Williams’ former coach is weighing in on the same.

On August 20, 2024, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced that world No. 1 Jannik Sinner had tested positive for clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid, not once, but twice. The tests, conducted in March, showed tiny amounts of the substance. However, an independent hearing ruled that Sinner bore “no fault or negligence.” The verdict? Contamination. His physio, Umberto Ferrara, had used a healing spray containing clostebol on a teammate’s cut. Later, Ferrara treated Sinner’s back and feet. That’s how, according to his lawyer, Sinner ended up with clostebol in his system.

Sinner’s test results confirmed the minuscule presence of clostebol: 76 picograms per milliliter on March 10, and 86 picograms on March 18. For context, the spray contained 5 milligrams per milliliter of the substance. The ITIA accepted the explanation, but that wasn’t the end of the story. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed. And just before the hearing, both sides settled. Sinner took a three-month suspension.

Iga Swiatek faced a similar ordeal. The world No. 1 tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) after taking a sleeping pill for jet lag. The amount? Just 50 picograms per milliliter—an amount experts call a mere trace. A picogram is one-thousandth of a nanogram, and a nanogram is one-billionth of a gram. You’d need a microscope to even see it. Still, the system flagged her.

Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams’ former coach, isn’t having it. In an interview, he called out the absurdity of the system. “There has to be a low limit. I don’t think it’s normal that someone who has 0.000001 grams, milligrams of something in his system is considered doing doping. Because again, contamination is everywhere. And I think there is a reason why they don’t put a limit is to catch people so they can show they’re useful. I want them to be useful because they catch people who really do doping, not to look useful. Because they catch people that are innocent, and they do that all the time. This is for me unacceptable.”

The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) is taking things further. They’ve filed a lawsuit against the tennis institutions, calling them a “cartel.” One of the points in their case? The way doping tests are handled.

The PTPA names Jannik Sinner in their lawsuit

According to the PTPA, players are subjected to “invasive searches of personal devices, random middle-of-the-night drug tests, and interrogations without legal representation.” The organization even claims the ITIA has suspended players “without due process based on flimsy or fabricated evidence.” The lawsuit gets even more serious. It accuses tennis authorities of illegally searching players’ phones without consent. That, the PTPA says, is a “gross invasion of privacy” and a “violation of the law.”

However, they believe Jannik Sinner was treated “unfairly,” not because of the “illegal” doping system, but because of favoritism. The lawsuit questions why other players have faced longer investigations and harsher punishments. Meanwhile, Sinner was given preferential treatment. It read, “Unlike its dogged pursuit of other players, however, it accepted Sinner’s explanation that his physical therapist had accidentally applied a banned substance to Sinner’s skin during treatment.

The lawsuit also stated, “There was no investigation that dragged for over a year into a prominent player who had not vocalized any issues with the cartel.”  Translation: Players who don’t challenge the system get off easier.

Sinner has stayed silent on the lawsuit. He’s set to return at the Italian Open commencing 5th May, keeping his focus on tennis. But the bigger question remains: Is the doping system in tennis fair? What do you think?