What Djokovic thinks of current anti-doping system

[uncooling]

This is the interview he had from the Australian Open this year.


Q. Would you be in favor of like a biological passport program that they're instituting in cycling for tennis?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I mean, you know, we can discuss about the options for a while. But generally I believe that the present regulations about anti‑doping tests in tennis are good, in my views. I don't think there should be any major changes because, as you know, it's official. We have to write where we are every day of our lives so they have an opportunity to test us every day of 365 days in a year.
I think that doesn't give anybody a chance to do something that is unsportsmanlike



But Djokovic wasn't tested for like 7 months after he was dominating in 2011. If I remember correctly, Djokovic has always been a talented player, but his physical performance always brought him down in important moments (how he was choking in many matches due to heat, fatigue, etc.) But since 2011, he's been the fittest player on ATP, and he was rarely blood-tested.

All top players except him think the current anti-doping system sucks. This includes, Federer, Murray, Berdych, Nadal, etc. There's even this good article about how easy it is for players to dope

http://www.tennisnow.com/News/Featur...hard-Ings.aspx

BUT, Djokovic thinks we have a perfect doping system now, and don't need more blood-tests, etc. I'm surprised this is coming from someone who wasn't even blood-tested for 7 months and would probably the person who would benefit from doping the most!

Any thoughts?

[Clarky21]

Tennis may as well not even have an anti-doping program it's so lax. It's nowhere near what it needs to be if it actually wanted to catch anyone. I've gone on at length on here before about how bad it is.

And I totally agree about Cvac. Of course he's against more stringent testing. Since his miracle turn around in stamina in one month's time at the end of 2010, he's been an unstoppable beast. I have still not had anyone come up with a convincing story to excuse away his unbelievable increase in fitness. I think there is only one explanation for it, and maybe in about 10 years time we will finally all know exactly what it is.

[jm1980]

It's funny how Djokovic gets accused of doping but Nadal isn't. The guy looks exactly like every other steroid enchanced meathead you see in gyms.

And let's not forget Fed, who at age 31 somehow still has miraculous stamina to compete against the top guys.

Whoever thinks the top guys (and by that I mean Top 100) in the sport aren't on something is delusional.

[Sid_Vicious]

Originally Posted by jm1980

It's funny how Djokovic gets accused of doping but Nadal isn't. The guy looks exactly like every other steroid enchanced meathead you see in gyms.

And let's not forget Fed, who at age 31 somehow still has miraculous stamina to compete against the top guys.

Whoever thinks the top guys (and by that I mean Top 100) in the sport aren't on something is delusional.

Enhanced meathead? Get off your computer chair and go look inside a gym for proper example of an "enhanced meathead".

Nadal has an athletic body just like Djokovic and that is not great evidence to accuse them of doping. Only morons base such accusations on overt physical characteristics. It's not like Nadal has 22 inch biceps.Some guy accused Murray of doping because he had a six pack .LOL

Also, Federer's stamina is not that impressive; certainly not to the point where The explanation has to be PEDs.

We all know that cheating happens in tennis, but specifically single out players based on lame observations "ZOMG, player X has big biceps,5% body fat, and actually completed a 5 set match without dying! Definitely on PEDs!" is ridiculous.

[mightyrick]

Originally Posted by Sid_Vicious

Nadal has an athletic body just like Djokovic and that is not great evidence to accuse them of doping. Only morons base such accusations on overt physical characteristics. It's not like Nadal has 22 inch biceps.

I'm not saying that either one is doping, but I'm sorry... if you think EPOs are used in sports to give you huge bodies... think again. They are used for quick recovery, stamina, and endurance. Case in point... let me introduce you to Mr. Armstrong...

[Sid_Vicious]

Originally Posted by mightyrick

I'm not saying that either one is doping, but I'm sorry... if you think EPOs are used in sports to give you huge bodies... think again. They are used for quick recovery, stamina, and endurance. Case in point... let me introduce you to Mr. Armstrong...

Yes, I know. That is my point. Saying Nadal is doping because he has guns is stupid. If PEDs are being used in tennis, they are not used to build massive guns and upper bodies. Endurance and stamina are probably the two attributes hat pros probably seek.


My point was that if someone wanted to accuse Nadal of taking anabolic agents, it would be ridiculous since Nadals biceps can be attained by naturally working out. If Nadal had 25 inch guns, then it would send up red flags for anabolic substances.

[jm1980]

Originally Posted by Sid_Vicious

Nadal has an athletic body just like Djokovic

You're kidding me, right?

Also, Federer's stamina is not that impressive; certainly not to the point where The explanation has to be PEDs.

Explain how he runs with players 10 years younger than him (who are likely also doping themselves).

This gets more ridiculous as Fed goes deeper into tournaments than these youngsters and yet shows no signs of fatigue.

[TCG]

Originally Posted by jm1980

You're kidding me, right?



Explain how he runs with players 10 years younger than him (who are likely also doping themselves).

This gets more ridiculous as Fed goes deeper into tournaments than these youngsters and yet shows no signs of fatigue.

What stamina? The guy barely plays 5 sets at a slam. He gets tried and can't play two back to back five setters. He has the lowest stamina in the top 10 players. His wins over younger opponents are mostly straight sets or dropping a set. His early round victories are mostly straight sets and the matches last less than 90 min even at a slam. His game is less physical and more technical. We had seen him in many matches over the last two years where he looked gassed after a long match and couldn't play his best the following match. Examples: Olympics, AO open 2013.

[Sid_Vicious]

Originally Posted by jm1980

You're kidding me, right?



Explain how he runs with players 10 years younger than him (who are likely also doping themselves).

This gets more ridiculous as Fed goes deeper into tournaments than these youngsters and yet shows no signs of fatigue.

No, I'm not kidding you. Nadal has a bigger upper body while Djokovic has much less body fat. Both are athletic builds. Murray has both those characteristics.

Have you seen how Federer deals with lower ranked players? 30-40 second service games coupled with nonchalant autopilot. Federer is always talking about conserving energy as he progresses through grand slam tournaments.

And despite his supposed ridiculous stamina, He was completey burned out in the 5th set of the AO this year. Physically, Federer has never been on the level Nadal and Djokovic are.

[Backhand Compliment]

Originally Posted by uncooling

This is the interview he had from the Australian Open this year.


Q. Would you be in favor of like a biological passport program that they're instituting in cycling for tennis?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I mean, you know, we can discuss about the options for a while. But generally I believe that the present regulations about anti‑doping tests in tennis are good, in my views. I don't think there should be any major changes because, as you know, it's official. We have to write where we are every day of our lives so they have an opportunity to test us every day of 365 days in a year.
I think that doesn't give anybody a chance to do something that is unsportsmanlike



But Djokovic wasn't tested for like 7 months after he was dominating in 2011. If I remember correctly, Djokovic has always been a talented player, but his physical performance always brought him down in important moments (how he was choking in many matches due to heat, fatigue, etc.) But since 2011, he's been the fittest player on ATP, and he was rarely blood-tested.

All top players except him think the current anti-doping system sucks. This includes, Federer, Murray, Berdych, Nadal, etc. There's even this good article about how easy it is for players to dope

http://www.tennisnow.com/News/Featur...hard-Ings.aspx

BUT, Djokovic thinks we have a perfect doping system now, and don't need more blood-tests, etc. I'm surprised this is coming from someone who wasn't even blood-tested for 7 months and would probably the person who would benefit from doping the most!

Any thoughts?

What a bunch of bias rolled into one post. Nowhere does Djokovic say it's "perfect", and nowhere do Federer and Nadal say it "sucks". They all more-less say there can be improvements, tennis is clean yada-yada. I think Berdych was the only one who voiced a strong opinion about it, everybody else gave the usual politically-correct stuff, but I guess the OP needs to make Djokovic look bad

Also, it's common misconception that Djokovic stamina was "bad". For sure it wasn't as good as Nadal's or Federer's, but no way bad. Just check his draw and progress at USO in 2007 and 2008, four and five setters, and he went far both times, all the way to finals in 2007. Of course that 20 year old Djokovic couldn't run as much peak Federer or healthy Nadal, their levels were above everybody else.

[uncooling]

Originally Posted by Backhand Compliment

What a bunch of bias rolled into one post. Nowhere does Djokovic say it's "perfect", and nowhere do Federer and Nadal say it "sucks". They all more-less say there can be improvements, tennis is clean yada-yada. I think Berdych was the only one who voiced a strong opinion about it, everybody else gave the usual politically-correct stuff, but I guess the OP needs to make Djokovic look bad

Also, it's common misconception that Djokovic stamina was "bad". For sure it wasn't as good as Nadal's or Federer's, but no way bad. Just check his draw and progress at USO in 2007 and 2008, four and five setters, and he went far both times, all the way to finals in 2007. Of course that 20 year old Djokovic couldn't run as much peak Federer or healthy Nadal, their levels were above everybody else.

Well, Federer Nadal, Murray, Ferrer and Berdych all said they support biological possport. But only ONE player disagreed with this idea. guess whoo??? Djokovic.

[jm1980]

Originally Posted by uncooling

Well, Federer Nadal, Murray, Ferrer and Berdych all said they support biological possport. But only ONE player disagreed with this idea. guess whoo??? Djokovic.

This is fertilizer.

Q. How about blood testing? The ITF records tell us in the whole of 2011 there was only 18 blood tests taken of the top players. How often would you or Andy or Roger or Rafa be blood tested?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, I wasn't tested with blood for last six, seven months. It was more regularly in last two, three years ago. I don't know the reason why they stopped it.
As I said, I mean, as long as it's fair, it's clean, we're trying to protect the identity of this sport. I believe tennis players are one of the most cleanest athletes in the world and one of the most competitive sports.
So as long as we keep it that way, I have no complaints about testing.

Djokovic has no problems with more testing.

[Backhand Compliment]

Wrong again, nowhere did he say he's against, he actually said "we can discuss about the options". You are seeing only what you want to see, which is cool, Djokovic having lots of haters usually means he's doing well on tour

[uncooling]

Originally Posted by Backhand Compliment

Wrong again, nowhere did he say he's against, he actually said "we can discuss about the options". You are seeing only what you want to see, which is cool, Djokovic having lots of haters usually means he's doing well on tour

he DID say we don't need stricter system and our doping system is good enough.

Unless you're blind, you can clearly see that he's against more/stricter blood doping tests.

[Backhand Compliment]

No, that's what you would like him to be and say. Anyway, both Nadal and Murray who are claiming this system is not good enough, were the first to complain about it being too strict when it was introduced:

Among those against the new rules are Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. Nadal voiced his displeasure during the Australian Open, and Murray chimed in on the matter earlier this week.

http://www.tennistalk.com/en/news/20..._doping_stance

Does that make them suspicious or what? Whole bunch of nothing.

[zebedee]

Why do tennis fans think their sport is clean and somehow different to all other well-heeled sports where we know with certainty that doping is an established fact of life?

To my way of thinking, the only issue is one of knowing how prevalent the doping actually is. With a testing programme as feeble as the ITF's and the lack of anti-doping resources generally, we aren't going to find out anytime soon.

Whatever players say on the matter ought to be dismissed 100%.

[uncooling]

Originally Posted by Backhand Compliment

No, that's what you would like him to be and say. Anyway, both Nadal and Murray who are claiming this system is not good enough, were the first to complain about it being too strict when it was introduced:



http://www.tennistalk.com/en/news/20..._doping_stance

Does that make them suspicious or what? Whole bunch of nothing.

Way to bring an article from 2009, four years ago! that's when Murray/Djokovic weren't even playing well! Players probably weren't using drugs in that time because it wasn't as needed as today's tennis. It's MUCH more physically demanding to win a GS title nowadays, and players can benefit so much from it. Most importantly, it's much easier to dope these days with advanced technology and what not, and you can see what happened to Amstrong.

What's important is what players think NOW, after seeing what's happened to Djokovic with use of drugs!

Rafa was saying the current system isn't fair because they don't release information to public/players, and he was blood&urine tested 8 times while he was away. And it proved him clean!

Now, Djokovic was never blood-tested for 8 months when he was dominating.

And most importantly, out of all top guys, he's the ONLY one that thinks we don't need stricter testing.

[uncooling]

Originally Posted by Backhand Compliment

Wrong again, nowhere did he say he's against, he actually said "we can discuss about the options". You are seeing only what you want to see, which is cool, Djokovic having lots of haters usually means he's doing well on tour

he said our system doesn't need a stricter blood test it's absolutley clean according to him.

But many journalists and other players think it is possible to dope in current system. Only Djokovic says it's clean and he's the one who would benefit the most by doping considering how his weakness was phyisical ability.

Ironically (or coincidentally), he's the one who didn't get blood-tested for 8 months after his great success when Nadal was tested 7 times during that time. He's absolutely not the one to say our system is good now, but he is saying that.

btw, stop bringing an article that's 4 years old and try to argue back at my points, but rather be more realistic and logical!