Serena Williams criticises anti-doping rules before Wimbledon singles return

LONDON: Serena Williams said the anti-doping system in tennis has been a major frustration as she prepares to play her first singles match since 2022 at Wimbledon.

The 44-year-old American will face Australia’s Maya Joint in the opening round on Tuesday. Williams has returned after four years away from the sport, first playing doubles at Queen’s Club and in Berlin before deciding to compete in singles at Wimbledon. She is also due to play doubles with her sister Venus.

Her comeback has also required her to re-enter the anti-doping testing pool months before she could formally return to the women’s tour. Under tennis’ whereabouts rules, players must provide a daily location and time slot when they are available for testing throughout the year. A player can face sanctions for refusing a test or for failing to update whereabouts information three times in a 12-month period. Players may also be selected for random tests at any time.

Speaking to reporters at Wimbledon on Sunday, Williams said changes to the rules since her last spell on tour had added to the difficulty of returning. “It’s gruelling. They changed the rules now. I didn’t know some of the rules. So apparently if you miss a test outside of your window, it still counts as missed. I’m like, I guess I can’t go pick up my kids,” she said and furtehr described the system as necessary but said parts of it were unreasonable. “It’s unprofessional. I hate it. It’s necessary, but I think a lot of the stuff, if I want to go places outside of my window, I should be able to go without having it count as a missed test. There has to be a different way to make it reasonable because that’s just unreasonable. That was a big reason why I didn’t want to come back either, because it’s just so hard.”

Balancing tennis with family and business

Williams, a mother of two young daughters, said the demands of constant reporting are difficult to manage alongside the rest of her life. She said she runs a venture capital company, travels frequently and has children, making it challenging to account for her whereabouts around the clock.

“My life is busy. I run a venture capital company, I travel the world. I have children. I could be in so many different cities so many different times,” she stated.

She added that she has no issue with being transparent about her activities, but said the discipline of having to specify where she will be for 24 hours at a time is something she is still adjusting to. “But just getting that discipline of reporting. Obviously I don’t mind because I always have been very clear about what I do. I guess now for 24 hours where I’m going to be is just different - at least for me. I don’t know if that works for everyone else.”

Her criticism comes days after the International Tennis Integrity Agency banned former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova for four years. The Czech player refused an anti-doping test in December, saying she was frightened to allow a doping official into her home.

Uncertainty over singles comeback

Williams’ career had appeared to end in 2022 when she said she was evolving away from tennis after losing to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the US Open. Even now, she said she remains unsure whether returning to singles was the right decision. “I had until Monday to decide. I think it was like Sunday. I just wasn’t sure up until then. Honestly, I’m still not even sure, but we’ll see,” Williams said.

The seven-time Wimbledon champion enters the tournament with 23 Grand Slam singles titles and a return that has already drawn significant attention before a ball has been struck in the singles draw.