Serena Williams says she would have received a 20-year ban for a similar doping offense to Jannik Sinner

Serena Williams during the 2022 US Open, the final tournament of her career. Elsa/Getty Images North/File via CNN Newsource

Serena Williams has highlighted the perceived double standards surrounding men’s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner’s doping ban, saying in a new interview with Time magazine that she would have been suspended for 20 years for a similar offense.

Sinner is currently serving a three-month ban having twice tested positive for banned substance Clostebol, an anabolic steroid, in March last year.

The three-time grand slam champion previously escaped a ban when the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) ruled that he wasn’t at fault for the positive tests, accepting that the contamination was caused by a physio applying an over-the-counter spray to their own skin – not Sinner’s – to treat a small wound.

However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) subsequently lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), leading to Sinner accepting a suspension from February 9 to May 4.

Williams, a 23-time grand slam singles champion who stepped away from tennis in 2022, described the Italian as a “fantastic personality” and “great for the sport,” while also acknowledging her surprise at how his case was handled.

“If I did that, I would have gotten (a ban of) 20 years,” she told Time in an interview published on Wednesday. “Let’s be honest. I would have gotten grand slams taken away from me.”

She added: “I’ve been put down so much, I don’t want to bring anyone down … Men’s tennis needs him.”

Sinner, who won the Australian Open at the start of the year, is due to return to the court ahead of next month’s Italian Open in Rome.

Williams is not alone in criticizing the length of Sinner’s ban. Men’s 24-time grand slam singles champion Novak Djokovic said that the whole case was “not a good image for our sport” and suggested that many players believe there “is favoritism happening.”

Meanwhile, British player Liam Broady told BBC Sport that it felt like the suspension was intended to “impact Jannik’s career as little as possible.”

An ITIA spokesperson previously told CNN Sports that it approaches each case in the same way, “irrespective of a player’s ranking or status.”

It added: “We understand that anti-doping is a complex and sometimes confusing topic, and commit significant time and resources into providing education and support to players to help them understand the rules and how they apply to them.”

In a February statement, Sinner said that he has “always accepted that I am responsible for my team and realize WADA’s strict rules are an important protection for the sport I love.”

Williams also said that the case made her think of her former rival Maria Sharapova, who was handed a 15-month suspension after testing positive for heart disease drug meldonium in 2016.

Initially banned for two years, Sharapova argued on appeal that it had been an administrative error and that the punishment was “unfairly harsh.” CAS concluded that it would be wrong to call the five-time grand slam winner an “intentional doper.”

“Just weirdly and oddly, I can’t help but think about Maria all this time,” Williams said. “I can’t help but feel for her.”

Since playing her last game of competitive tennis at the 2022 US Open, Williams has expanded her investment portfolio, and last month announced that she was joining the ownership group for the WNBA’s Toronto Tempo, an expansion franchise that will start playing in 2026.

On top of her involvement in the Tempo, the 43-year-old is also a minority owner of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Angel City FC and Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TGL, while also owning a part of the Miami Dolphins alongside sister Venus.

Speaking with Time about potentially returning to tennis, Williams said that she “just can’t peel herself away” from her two children, Olympia and Adira.

“Another reason I had to transition (away from tennis) was because I wanted to have more kids,” she said. “And I look at Adira and I’m like, ‘Was it worth it?’ I literally thought about it the other day. I was like, ‘Yeah, it was definitely worth it.’”

She added, however, that she misses tennis “a lot” and still feels healthy after not overplaying during her career.