Serena Williams says she would have been hit with a 20-year ban if she had failed drug tests like men’s world No 1 Jannik Sinner, who received a three-month suspension in February.
“I love the guy, love this game,” Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam winner, told Time magazine this week after being named one of its 100 most influential people. “He’s great for the sport. I’ve been put down so much, I don’t want to bring anyone down. Men’s tennis needs him.
“[But] if I did that, I would have gotten 20 years. Let’s be honest. I would have gotten grand slams taken away from me.”
Sinner, whose suspension ends on 4 May, twice tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid clostebol in March 2024. He has maintained his innocence, claiming the drug entered his system through a massage from a trainer.
The 23-year-old Italian accepted his ban after reaching an agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency, which had challenged the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s earlier decision to clear him of any wrongdoing.
Williams, 43, said she took extra precautions to avoid any accidental ingestion of an illegal substance, joking that a PED scandal would have landed her “in jail”.
A three-time grand slam winner, Sinner is expected to make his return to the tour on home turf at the Italian Open, an ATP 1000 clay-court tournament in Rome that begins on 5 May.
Williams, who retired after the 2022 US Open, told the magazine she misses playing tennis.
“I miss it a lot, with all my heart. I miss it because I’m healthy,” Williams said. “If I couldn’t walk, or if I was so out of it, I wouldn’t miss it as much.”
