Serena Williams will participate in women’s singles at Wimbledon for the first time since 2022, entering the tournament as a wild card entrant. She’s also in the doubles event with her sister, Venus, for the first time since 2016.
The road to get back to professional tennis was a long one. Williams had to go back into the anti-doping pool. When asked about the process on Sunday, the 44-year-old tennis legend called the system “unprofessional” and “unreasonable.”
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“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,” she said. “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.”
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) requires players to provide their daily “whereabouts” for no-notice testing. It’s a feature that has come under much scrutiny over the last few weeks.
Marketa Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon champion, was suspended for four years for refusing an anti-doping test.
Williams called the process “unreasonable.”
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“That was a big reason why I didn’t want to come back either because it’s just so hard. 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,” she said.
The ITIA responded to Williams’ comments.
“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 agency said.
“There have been no changes to the whereabouts rules in the last few years,” the ITIA added. “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.”
Regardless, Williams has said she’s always been willing to comply with the rules.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
