Novak Djokovic on Jannik Sinner's Doping Ban: "Cloud Will Follow Him"

Once again, the greatest tennis player of all time is keeping the sport on its toes. This past weekend, Novak Djokovic won his 101st career title, only to quickly pull out of the 2025 ATP Finals, sending players and tournament organizers scrambling.

On Tuesday afternoon, Piers Morgan released an hour-long interview with Djokovic where they tackled a wide range of issues: the COVID vaccine, the GOAT debate, and Djokovic's personal life.

But for many tennis fans, the most intriguing part of the interview was Djokovic's thoughts on Jannik Sinner's three-month doping ban earlier this year, stemming from his failed tests in 2024.

"Cloud Will Follow Him"

Morgan asked Djokovic if there was a cloud hanging over Sinner and if there was preferential treatment because of his ranking.

"I mean look that cloud will follow him as the cloud of COVID will follow me for the rest of his or my career in this case. So it's just something that it was so major, and that when it happens, it just... Over time, it will fade, but I don't think it will disappear. So there's always going to be, you know, certain group of people that will always try to bring that forward," answered Djokovic.

Morgan quickly followed up by asking Djokovic if he believed Sinner. Djokovic prefaced his answer with how long he had known Sinner and their friendship going back over a decade before eventually saying, "So when this happened, I was shocked, honestly. So I do think that he didn't do it on purpose. But the way the whole case was handled is so many red flags."

"Very, Very Odd" Treatment

Morgan said he believed that if Sinner had been ranked No. 500, the ban would have been much greater, and Djokovic strongly agreed.

"That's exactly... The lack of transparency, the inconsistency, the convenience of the ban coming between the Slams so he doesn't miss out the others. It was very, very odd. Very, very odd. I really don't like how the case was being handled, and you could hear so many other players, both male and female, who had some similar situations coming out in the media and complaining that it was a preferable treatment.

So, I think essentially I want to believe, and my history with him, I think he didn't do it on purpose. But of course, he is responsible because those are the rules. You are responsible when something like this happens. And so when you see someone for something very similar or the same being banned for years and then he's banned for provisional, whatever three months or whatever it was, it's just not right."

Djokovic's thoughts on Sinner's doping case have been incredibly consistent since he was first asked about it at the 2024 U.S. Open through the announcement of the three-month ban in February.

"It's Not Easy For Him"

Djokovic concluded his answer by praising Sinner for how he has handled the situation, "It's not easy for him, obviously, and I do have a sense of empathy and compassion for him because I think he has handled the storm in the media that keeps on coming back every once in a while.

He's handling that very well and very maturely and very steadily, and kudos to him for that. But it's definitely not easy. And in the midst of all of that, he's still dominating. He's still playing incredible winning Slams. So I think it's interesting. You should interview him."

Djokovic ended his 2025 campaign in Athens as the World No. 4 with a record of 39-11 and two titles. Meanwhile, Sinner is competing this week at the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. The Italian superstar is the ATP World No. 1 with a record of 54-6 with five singles titles.

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