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The tennis star has warned Jannik Sinner that his three-month ban for doping will linger over his career like a "cloud" – while also questioning the timing of the sanction last year.

The Ban Explained

Sinner completed a three-month prohibition in early 2025 after the World Anti-Doping Agency approved his account that a prohibited performance-enhancing substance, the steroid clostebol, had been ingested unintentionally.

"That cloud will follow him just as the cloud of Covid will follow me, for the remainder of our respective careers," the champion remarked in a discussion on a popular YouTube program.

"It's just something that, it was so significant, and after such events, with time it may lessen, but I don't think it will disappear. There will inevitably exist a specific segment of individuals that will always try to bring that forward."

The Champion's Viewpoint

The Serbian player stated that Sinner, his frequent training companion, "didn't do it on purpose", but he proceeded to question how the player arranged to complete his ban without missing a grand slam.

"There is the lack of transparency, the inconsistency, the convenient timing of the suspension occurring between major events, so he doesn't miss out the others – it simply appeared highly unusual," Djokovic added.

Wider Player Reactions

"I really don't like how the case was being handled and it was evident numerous fellow athletes, both male and female, who had comparable circumstances coming out in the media and asserting it represented favorable handling."