Former world number one Kafelnikov calls doping scandals in tennis a disgrace

Former world number one Yevgeny Kafelnikov on Friday, November 29, called the doping scandals in the sport of tennis involving Poland's Iga Szwiontek and Italy's Yannick Sinner a disgrace.

"Sometimes I think, "Why the hell didn't I take steroids throughout my career to play 300 matches a year instead of 170?" What's happening to tennis now is a real disgrace," he wrote on his X page.

Earlier, on November 28, the Tennis Adverse Events Authority (ITIA) announced on its website that world number two Švöntek had tested positive for doping in August 2024, with minimal levels of trimetazidine found in the sample.

On October 2, Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic criticized the anti-doping system because of the case against the world number one, Italian Yannick Cinner, who is accused of doping. The tennis player himself explained that the banned substance got into his system as a result of contamination by a member of the cheerleading squad. An independent tribunal found his explanation credible.

It was reported on August 20 that Cinner had tested positive twice at the Masters Series tournament in Indian Wells, USA, but avoided disqualification. He was suspended twice but successfully appealed the sanction on both occasions and continued to compete.