🔗 Share this article Novak Djokovic Issues Warning to Jannik Sinner: Doping Ban Will Hang Over Him Like a "Cloud" The tennis star has warned Jannik Sinner that his three-month doping suspension will persist over his career as a constant shadow – while also questioning the scheduling of the penalty in the previous season. Details of the Suspension Sinner completed a three-month suspension in February 2025 after the global anti-doping body approved his account that a banned anabolic steroid, the steroid clostebol, had entered his system accidentally. "This shadow will trail him just as the cloud of Covid will follow me, for the rest of his, or my career," Djokovic stated in an interview on a popular YouTube program. "It is a situation where, it was so major, and after such events, with time it may lessen, but I don't think it will disappear. There's always going to be a certain group of people that will continually reference the incident." Djokovic's Perspective Djokovic expressed belief that Sinner, a regular practice partner, "had no intentional involvement", but he then scrutinized how the player arranged to serve his time without sitting out any major tournaments. "The absence of openness, the irregularity, the convenient timing of the suspension coming between the slams, so he avoids skipping important competitions – it's just it was very, very odd," Djokovic added. Broader Tennis Community Response "I am dissatisfied with how the case was being handled and it was evident numerous fellow athletes, both male and female, who had some similar situations coming out in the media and asserting it represented favorable handling."