Serena Williams didn’t mince words while discussing the anti-doping rules by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) ahead of her Wimbledon return.
The seven-time Wimbledon champ, who returned to the sport this month in a doubles match at the Queen’s Club tournament, explained that the system is “unreasonable” for her busy lifestyle.
“It’s grueling. 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,” the mother of two said when asked Sunday about complying with the rules, per The Associated Press.
“It’s unprofessional. I hate it. I think 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.”
Under anti-doping rules, the starting point for a sanction when a player refuses a test must be the same as if they had tested positive.
Players must inform the ITIA of their whereabouts for no-notice testing, which Williams said is “unreasonable.”
Three “whereabouts failures” within 12 months can result in a penalty without a positive test.
“That was a big reason why I didn’t want to come back either, because it’s just so hard,” Williams, 44, said.
“I mean, my life is busy. I run a company, I run a VC company, I travel the world. I have children. It’s like I could be in so many different cities so many different times.
Williams added that she’s adjusting to the rules and “always have been very clear about what I do” surrounding the sport.
“Just getting in that routine of, all right, first of all, learning the new rules, then just getting back and reporting every day,” she said.
“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.”
In response to Williams’ comments, the ITIA told The Associated Press that the rules haven’t changed for years.
“If a tester is unable to reach a player during their allocated hour, then it may well be a ‘strike,’ and three failures could lead to a charge. If a tester is unable to reach a player outside of their allocated hour, it is not considered a strike,” the ITIA said of the whereabouts rules.
“There have been no changes to the whereabouts rules in the last few years,” the ITIA added in its statement. “We understand the system can seem challenging, but it is there to protect players, not to trip them up. If players are unsure or have questions, we would welcome a conversation with them directly or through their agents.”
Williams returned to the testing pool in February and announced her comeback earlier this month after a four-year absence from the sport.
She made waves when she revealed she is a paid spokesperson for the company Ro last August.
The WYN Beauty founder said she turned to the GLP-1 — short for glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists — after she struggled to stay at a “healthy” weight following the births of her daughters, Olympia in 2017 and Adira in 2023.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion faces 20-year-old Australian Maya Joint at Wimbledon on Tuesday. She’s also playing doubles with sister Venus.
Former Wimbledon champion and World No. 6 Markéta Vondroušová was been suspended from professional tennis for four years for refusing an anti-doping test in December 2025, the ITIA announced last week.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
