Novak Djokovic blasts flawed system amid Jannik Sinner doping row

Novak Djokovic has blasted the governing bodies of tennis for mishandling Jannik Sinner's doping case .

Speaking to the media ahead of the Shanghai Masters, Djokovic sympathized with Sinner for having his innocence questioned even after he was cleared by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) and the Italian anti-doping authority following a series of formal hearings. In September, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rejected the tribunal's verdict that cleared the Italian and appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that Sinner be banned for "between one and two years."

"It's quite obvious that we have a system that is not working well," Djokovic said on Wednesday. "I guess that's probably something that even to people who are not following our sport are realizing. There's way too many inconsistencies, way too many governing bodies involved. This whole case is not helping our sport at all. I think he has won the three appeals so far that he had, and it must be very tough for him and his team and family. Hopefully, we can go back to tennis."

Djokovic said it was "impressive" for Sinner to keep his composure through the ordeal, but rued that the circumstances "are not positive" for the sport of tennis. He added that "whatever happens" with the case needs to occur quickly so fans can switch their focus to tennis rather than the off-court controversy.

The Serb isn't the first to criticize sporting authorities for their handling of Sinner's case. Earlier this week, American legend Martina Navratilova called WADA "a mess" for challenging ITIA's verdict.

Djokovic is targeting his fifth Shanghai Masters title after victories at the hard court tournament in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2018. The ATP 1000 event could be his last big outing of the year before January's Australian Open after he refused to commit to playing any other tournaments in 2024.