Williams wants fair treatment after five dope tests this year
Other American players checked once at most Federer tested on seven occasions in last month
Serena Williams’s first interview since last month’s French Open turned into a debate about dope testing, as she claimed that she is being unfairly targeted for more samples than anyone else.
While insisting that “I despise having people in our sport that aren’t being honest”, Williams also called for equal treatment across the professional ranks, and suggested that the five samples she had given the US Anti-doping Agency in the first half of this year represented an excessive burden.
Williams’s dissatisfaction with the Usada programme became headline news this week when it emerged that a tester had come to her house on June 14 and found her not at home. When notified about the visit, she immediately rang Steve Simon, the head of the Women’s Tennis Association, and was then referred on to the head of Usada, Travis Tygart.
The incident only entered the public domain when Simon was overheard discussing the case on his mobile phone at San Francisco airport.
And Williams began to feel particularly hard done by after reading an article published by the website Deadspin, which revealed that she had given five samples to Usada already this year when the figure for most other American players was either zero or one.
“I actually thought the [Deadspin] article was interesting, to be honest,” said Williams, “because I never knew that I was tested so much more than everyone else. I do know I’m always getting tested, all the time. No matter where I’m ranked.
“Until I read that article, I didn’t realise it was such a discrepancy with me against the other players that they listed, at least with the American players, both male and female.
“Normally it goes on ranking. If I’m No1, it goes on that number for 12 months. [But] in January that 12 months would have been over. How is it that it’s only June, [and] I’ve been tested five times?”
Asked about her conversation with Tygart, Williams replied: “I said, ‘I’m going with that [giving five samples in six months], as long as everyone is being treated equally’. That’s all I care about.
“I despise having people in our sport that aren’t being honest. I’m totally OK with testing and I encourage it. I’m OK for it. What I want to know is everyone is getting tested, that we are really working to keep this sport clean.
“Tennis has given me so much. It’s such an amazing sport. I feel like equality, that’s all I’ve been preaching. If that’s testing everyone five times, let’s do it. Let’s be a part of it. Just due to the numbers, it looks like I’m being pushed out [above everyone else].”
Later, defending champion Roger Federer was asked for his response to the story, and revealed that he had been tested seven times in the last month alone. As Federer explained, he receives regular visits when he is staying at his main home in the Swiss town of Valbella. But at his other home in Dubai, outof-competition testing is almost unheard of.
“In the village I live in, in Switzerland, the tester lives in the same village, so it’s very convenient,” said Federer with a smile. “If he’s bored at home, he probably just says, ‘Let me check in on Roger to see if he’s having a good time’. Anyway, it’s only going to take 10 minutes.
“I’ve been tested quite a bit, quite frequently out of competition. I mentioned many times in Dubai I’ve hardly ever been tested, which has been quite disappointing. To honest, in the 15 years I’ve been there, it’s been one test.
“I think it varies from place to place that you spend your time in. Maybe that’s the part I don’t like so much: the inconsistency of the places where they test. I understand it probably also has something to do with the budget of Wada [World Anti-doping Agency], like flying somebody there just for that one test, I understand.
“Yet that should not be an excuse. That’s why I think after all we still need more funding. I hope that’s going to happen. I don’t believe there’s ever going to be enough testing.
“What’s important is these people are professional, they know what they’re doing, they treat you like humans, not like criminals.
“Then it’s OK. But I understand the frustration sometimes. I have it, too.”