Open Letter- Wimble-Dope 2025: When Tennis Died
Dear Tennis Stakeholders,
The second weekend of July 2025 will forever be etched in sporting history. On 12 July 2025, Iga Swiatek defeated Amanda Anisimova 6–0, 6–0 in 57 minutes to capture her maiden Wimbledon title. Swiatek’s dominance over her opponent was the most one-sided final in tennis history. The following day, the world witnessed Jannik Sinner defeat two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon men’s final. Besides producing two new Wimbledon champions, the 12th and 13th of July 2025 will also go down in history as the days when tennis died, as the newly minted champions were recently caught and banned for doping violations. Forty days after Sinner’s victory, Maria Sharapova, suspended for doping in 2016, will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHOF). To put it succinctly, doping is corrupting the soul of tennis.
Tennis is one of the most-watched and most respected sports in the world. Images of Wimbledon winners often transition from the back pages to the front page of newspapers worldwide. Tennis icons such as Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer are some of the most recognised faces in the world. Among sporting superstars, tennis players reign supreme. The Laureus World Sports Awards is an award ceremony celebrating sporting accomplishments across all sports. Since its inception in 2000, tennis stars have dominated the award, with Serena Williams winning the Sportswoman of the Year the most number of times, with four victories and Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic winning the Sportsman of the Year the most number of times, with five victories each.
Tennis is often described as a “gentleman’s sport”, and at the Wimbledon Championships, the men’s competition is known as the Gentlemen’s singles and doubles tournament, while the female competition is called the ladies’ singles and doubles tournament. Unfortunately, tennis respectability, which has been earned over the centuries by generations of tennis players, is gradually being thrown into the garbage due to the tennis authorities’ lackadaisical attitude towards doping.
How did we get to this stage of honouring doping cheats? It all started in August 2024 when the ITHOF added Maria Sharapova to the International Tennis Hall of Fame ballot for the Class of 2025. This was despite her two-year suspension by the International Tennis Federation because she tested positive for meldonium, which was present in her urine sample during the 2016 Australian Open. After Sharapova made the ITHOF ballot, leading journalists, historians and Hall of Famers cast their ballots and voted to elect her into the esteemed Tennis Hall of Fame, which takes place in August 2025. This is even though the meldonium, according to the National Institutes of Health, has the “Capacity to decrease lactate production during and after exercise, its capability to enhance the storage and utilisation of glycogen, and its protective action against oxidative stress.” To be considered eligible for induction, a player must have “demonstrated integrity, sportsmanship, and positive character attributes.” For Sharapova to still be inducted despite failing to demonstrate integrity, sportsmanship, and positive character attributes, showcases the tennis authorities’ complicity in downplaying the seriousness of doping.
With Serena Williams, Roger Federer, and Rafa Nadal retired, a new generation of tennis players has emerged, with Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek among the most dominant players in the current crop. However, following their doping scandal, this dominance is called into question. In March 2024, Sinner tested positive for clostebol during the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Eight days later, he tested positive again for the same banned substance during an out-of-competition urine sample. Clostebol is a synthetic anabolic-androgenic steroid. It can lead to higher red blood cell counts, improving oxygen delivery to tissues, enhancing endurance, and reducing fatigue.
Upon the discovery, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) provisionally suspended Sinner twice, and the suspension was lifted a couple of days later upon Sinner’s appeal. In August 2024, Sinner’s doping was made public, and the ITIA absolved Sinner of his doping charges. In September 2024, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed ITIA’s decision, stating that athletes are responsible for decisions made by their team, and it was seeking a one to two-year ban. In January 2025, Sinner competed and won the 2025 Australian Open, and a month later, he settled with WADA for a three-month ban. The three-month ban enabled Sinner to compete at the French Open, where he reached the final. Now he is the Wimbledon champion.
Iga Swiatek’s case also bears similarities with that of Jannik Sinner. During an out-of-competition urine sample testing in August 2024, Swiatek tested positive for the prohibited substance trimetazidine. Trimetazidine is a medication used to treat heart-related conditions. It increases blood flow to the heart, which helps endurance in sports. Swiatek claimed that a contaminated sleep medication caused the positive result. In November 2024, ITIA confirmed that Swiatek had accepted a one-month suspension.
The short tenure of Sinner and Swiatek’s doping suspension relative to longer-term bans handed to other tennis players like Varvara Lepchenko (21 months), Max Purcell (18 months), and Irina Fetecău (10 months) suggests elite leniency. When looking at Sinner and Swiatek’s mild punishment in conjunction with Sharapova’s inclusion into the Tennis Hall of Fame, the optics suggest an incestuous relationship between favoured tennis players and the establishment.
Following Sinner and Swiatek’s victory at the 2025 Wimbledon Championship, the tennis establishment still downplays the victors’ doping scandals. We are being gaslighted, and the prevailing narrative is that their hard work and tenacity earned them victory. Little mention is made that they should not have competed, as others who have committed similar offences have had lengthy bans. Since the tennis establishment chooses not to address the elephant in the room, others ask questions. Shortly after Sinner’s victory, Nick Kyrgios, the Australian tennis player, posted a message on X with the inscription of an asterisk to suggest that Sinner’s win was questionable. Other cynics have renamed Wimbledon to Wimble-Dope. Wouldn’t naysayers describe the 2025 Wimbledon Championship as the first ever Drug-Enhanced Grand Slam?
These scandals are bringing the game of tennis into disrepute. Sinner’s career can now be split into BC and AC, i.e Before Clostebol and After Clostebol. Of Sinner’s four Grand Slam titles, one was won before Clostebol entered his bloodstream, while the remaining three were won after Clostebol. Before Clostebol, the Jannik Sinner vs Novak Djokovic head-to-head was 4–3 in favour of Djokovic; however, after Clostebol, the head-to-head was 3–0 in favour of Sinner. It also cast aspersions on past and current tennis players who have worked hard to reach the top. Outsiders will wonder if all top tennis players gamed the system to get to the top.
Besides bringing the sport into disrepute, there is also a signalling effect when tennis authorities don’t take doping seriously. When there are no serious consequences for top-rated players who dope, it signals to the next generation of tennis players that cheating pays off. Will they not be emboldened to cut corners that will make them the number one seed, win £3m in prize money and eventually get inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame? At the end of every tennis match, little children run to the front row to get their tennis balls signed by players. What message are we sending to these little children who put their tennis balls signed by the tainted ink of drug cheats in their bedrooms?
Where do we go from here? All hope is not lost. However, for tennis to become a drug-free zone, certain steps need to be taken by tennis stakeholders, including players, governing boards and associations, tournament organisers, media and broadcasters, sponsors and advertisers and regulatory bodies. In its present state, the tennis anti-doping process is no longer fit for purpose. The asymmetric treatment of elite players caught doping relative to other players needs to be revisited. All should be equal before the anti-doping law. Furthermore, anti-doping agencies need to be more transparent. The five-month gap between Sinner failing a drug test and it becoming public knowledge, in addition to the three-month gap in Swaikek’s case, is not acceptable. It casts doubt on the whole process and suggests that some backroom deals have taken place. When investigating doping violation cases, authorities should ensure that the accused player does not engage the services of a lawyer who has previously worked on a legal brief for the anti-doping agency, as this creates a serious conflict of interest.
There needs to be serious consequences for those who dope, and this should be applied to both elite and non-elite players. For Grand Slam winners who dope, their previous Grand Slam title should be taken from them and given to the runner-up, as is done for medalists at the Olympics who are caught doping. In addition, they should be banned from competing at the next four Grand Slam tournaments. Any player suspended for a doping violation should be banned forever from inclusion in the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The ITHOF should also reconsider its decision to induct Maria Sharapova. The International Olympic Committee should provide a lifetime ban for players suspended for doping violations. Members of the fourth estate covering tennis should be true to their professional calling and, rather than heaping praise on convicted dopers, they should include the adjective “Disgraced” when describing players suspended for doping, irrespective of whether they are Grand Slam or non-Grand Slam winners (just like they do for Ben Johnson). Fellow players and umpires also have a role to play. At the end of a match with a player who dopes, the opponent and umpire should refuse to shake the cheating player’s hands.
The Laureus World Sports Awards set a great example when it withdrew Jannik Sinner’s 2025 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year nomination. However, it should also exclude all tennis players from being nominated until the tennis establishment sorts out its anti-doping system. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club should revise its rules to ensure that any Wimbledon winner suspended for doping violations should be excluded from becoming a member. In addition, for past winners who have doped, the honour roll should be revised by putting a large asterisk in front of their names.
Doping should have no place in the beautiful sport of tennis, and all hands must be on deck to make it a reality.
Selah.
Ahmed Olayinka Sule, CFA
@Alatenumo
14 July 2025
cc
International Tennis Hall of Fame
International Tennis Integrity Agency
World Anti-Doping Agency
International Tennis Federation
Laureus World Sports Awards
International Olympic Committee
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
Association of Tennis Professionals
Women’s Tennis Association
Court of Arbitration for Sport
Transparency International — Sports Integrity Division
UK Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Nicholas Kyrgios
