London, June 30:
Serena Williams took aim at tennis’ anti-doping system ahead of her Wimbledon return, calling the system “unprofessional” and “unreasonable.”
The 44-year-old Williams returned to the testing pool before she could announce her comeback to professional tennis and was asked Sunday about her experiences complying with the rules.
“It’s grueling. They changed the rules now. I didn’t know some of the rules. So apparently if you miss a test outside of your window, it still counts as missed. I’m like, I guess I can’t go pick up my kids,” said the seven-time Wimbledon champion, a mother of two.
“It’s unprofessional. I hate it. I think it’s necessary, but I think a lot of the stuff, if I want to go places outside of my window, I should be able to go without having it count as a missed test.”
Williams’ first match at the grass-court Grand Slam since 2022 will take place Tuesday when she faces Maya Joint as part of her tennis comeback. She returned to the sport this month in a doubles match at the Queen’s Club grass-court tournament.
The anti-doping protocol was in the spotlight last week when Marketa Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon champion, was suspended for four years for refusing an anti-doping test, the latest high-profile player sanctioned.
Players are required by the International Tennis Integrity Agency to provide their daily “whereabouts” for no-notice testing.
Williams described it as “unreasonable.”
“That was a big reason why I didn’t want to come back either,” she said, “because it’s just so hard. I mean, my life is busy, I run a company, I run a VC company, I travel the world. I have children. It’s like I could be in so many different cities so many different times.”
The ITIA, in response to Williams’ comments, told The Associated Press the rules have been the same for several years.