Serena Williams reacts to doping suspensions involving tennis stars

Serena Williams, retired from competitive tennis for nearly three years, still holds enormous influence in the sport

She's the latest to speak out about the doping controversy that led to the suspension of two of the game's biggest stars late last year

Williams believes the men's top-ranked player Yannick Sinner got off easy when he received a three-month suspension after testing positive for a banned steroid

Sinner's suspension ends on May 4th, just a couple weeks before the start of the French Open

so he will not miss a major tournament during his ban. Thursday, Time Magazine named Williams one of the top 100 most influential people

and in the profile, she talked about what it might have been like had she ever tested positive for a banned substance

I don't want to bring anyone down. Men's tennis needs him. If I did that, I would have gotten 20 years

Let's be honest, I would have gotten Grand Slams taken away from me

Williams was the number one women's player in the world for 319 weeks and won 23 major

singles titles in her career. And she's not the only one who feels there may have been some favoritism for the men's

top player Current tennis legends like Novak Djokovic have been outspoken about what they perceive as uneven testing and punishment from both of the sport anti agencies The issues also stem from

Iga Swiatek's one-month suspension in November 2024 when the number two ranked women's player

tested positive for a banned substance. Djokovic said it's not a good look for the sport and he's

had discussions with other players about how poorly the process in both cases was handled

The majority of the players doesn't feel that it's fair. Majority of the players feel like there is favorism happening

It seems like it appears that you can almost affect the outcome if you are a top player

if you have access to the top lawyers and whatnot. Djokovic also said the system doesn't work and he hopes the sports governing bodies

come together to find more effective ways to deal with these types of issues

Meanwhile, Sinner, who won his third Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January

is expected back on the court in his home country for the Italian Open May 7th

which is the warm-up for the French Open later in the month. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis