Daniil Medvedev has opened up on the brutal reality of anti-doping tests in tennis after fellow player Jenson Brooksby was provisionally suspended for being accused of missing three tests. The world No 3 revealed that he was one strike away from also being banned while explaining how easy it was to miss a test.
22-year-old Brooksby recently announced that he had accepted a provisional suspension after being accused of missing three drugs tests under the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s whereabouts system. Players must provide their location for an hour a day every day of the year for potential random tests.
Under the anti-doping rules, it means a player can be penalised without having provided a positive test if they have clocked up three “whereabouts failures” in a 12-month period. In Brooksby’s case, the world No 101 denies any wrongdoing and is waiting for an arbitration appeal with an independent tribunal, telling AP that accepting the suspension is not an admission of guilt.
Medvedev has now shared his own experience with the whereabouts programme and revealed that he was on two strikes for a long time, leaving him at risk of being suspended like Brooksby if he missed a third drugs test in that time period.
“Tough to answer. I think anti-doping generally in sports is a good thing. We need it because never know who cheats, who doesn’t,” the 27-year-old said after his second-round win at Wimbledon.
He continued: “The side effect of this is that sometimes you see players in the locker room, then you have stories like many players, I don’t even going to say names. Then you see they have, like, maybe I’m not sure exactly what I’m saying, but five milligrams of one prohibited substance, where even anti-doping in some cases says this couldn’t affect your performance.
“This could be maybe protein shake, who knows, water you drink, for whatever reason it’s there. For sure it’s a pity if you didn’t do anything. I can imagine this happening. Didn’t do nothing all your life, then you get a positive result. You know you’re probably going to be out for one, two years. You’re like, ‘Wow, I haven’t done anything.’ At the same time probably someone has done anything. Yeah, it is what is. You have to be very careful.”
Medvedev has had his own issues using the Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS) system – a World Anti-Doping Agency platform that players use to log their whereabouts. “Regarding Brooksby case, I didn’t see in details, but what I heard from my coaches, he says they didn’t knock on the right door and something like this,” he said.
“I myself had one time two missed tests. It was the first year I was on the ADAMS system. It’s not easy. I don’t know. Imagine you’re not married and you decide to sleep at your girlfriend who’s one hour away from your home, and you decide last moment. You forget to change the time slot. One missed test. Three can get pretty fast.”
The 2021 US Open champion is now regimented to ensure that he doesn’t risk coming close to a suspension again. But he explained that even something as simple as a doorbell or intercom failing could cost a player one strike.
He added: “I had two for a long time. I made sure I’m not going to miss one more. It’s not going to be possible that I’m going to miss one more. Since then I don’t think I have ever missed one.
“I can imagine your interphone doesn’t work. Yeah, some stories could happen. As I said, I think some cases are really bad luck. Then we have probably in other sports or in tennis, I don’t know, some players cheating. Yeah, don’t know the exact answer.”
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