Tennis much cleaner than other sports, says John McEnroe despite Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek testing positive in dope tests

Former world number one John McEnroe believes that doping scandals do not damage tennis. There has been a lot of voice raised about the recent doping scandals in the sport, which involved two world number one, men's reigning top player in ATP rankings, Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Poland’s Iga Swiatek.

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios has been the most vocal voice about the doping cases. In a recent press conference, he once again highlighted the importance of the issue and stated that two world number one testing positive in a dope test gives a ‘horrible’ look to the sport.

“Okay, he [Sinner] is No 1 in the world, he is an amazing tennis player,” he said as quoted in a report by Tennis 365. “I never said he’s not. I just think the treatment has to be fair for everyone. I just think that it’s been handled horrifically in our sport. Two world No 1s [Sinner and Iga Swiatek] both getting done for doping is disgusting for our sport. It’s a horrible look. Yeah, the tennis integrity right now, and everyone knows it, but no one wants to speak about it, it’s awful. It’s actually awful. And it’s not okay.”

Former world number one McEnroe, who is now a famous commentator as well, has recently spoken to the media ahead of the Australian Open, where he disagreed with the comments of the former world number 13 and suggested that despite these positive doping tests, tennis remains a much cleaner sport compared to other sports in the world.

"I don't think it has done any damage because if you look, it's way worse in the other sports," he said, as quoted in a report by ESPN. "In my opinion tennis is cleaner than any other sport. Now that doesn't mean there are not issues." However, interestingly, the 65-year-old went on to highlight that he did not like the fact that Sinner’s doping verdict was not revealed until the US Open. "That part [where Sinner’s failed doping tests were not revealed] I really don't like," he said.