Novak Djokovic ‘must be SUSPENDED’ after his ‘refused’ a pre-match drugs test before facing Britain’s Cam Norrie last week, says French cycling boss – but world No 1 insists testers shouldn’t have interrupted him before a match

• Djokovic didn’t hide his displeasure after pre-match doping test request
• World No 1 was critical of officials who interrupted his Davis Cup preparations
• Serbian didn’t break any rules as players have choice to give post-match sample 

Novak Djokovic ‘should be suspended’ for ‘refusing’ a pre-match doping test, according to French cycling team manager Marc Madiot.

The tennis world No 1 was angry at having his preparatory regime interrupted by doping control 90 minutes before his Davis Cup match with Britain’s Cameron Norrie last week.

World Anti Doping Agency officials paid Djokovic an unexpected visit in the lead-up to the match in Malaga to inform him he’d be tested.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency [ITIA] confirmed that Djokovic didn’t give his sample until after the match but hadn’t broken any rules as players are given a choice to be tested either before or after.

Nonetheless, the interruption by the anti-doping officials still irked the 24-time Grand Slam champion.   

Novak Djokovic criticised officials for having to do a doping control before a Davis Cup match

Djokovic told Serbian media it was the first time in 20-plus years he had had such a request

‘I didn’t believe that they could make such a decision. In 20 and more years of my career, it never happened to me that an hour-and-a-half before the match, I needed to go for doping control,’ Djokovic told Serbian media.

‘I have my own routine. I don’t need that distraction, to have my urine and blood taken, to think about whether I can give urine at that moment.

‘I didn’t see any reason or logic, but I hope they change such decisions. It’s a shame what they did.

‘They told me that one of the important reasons for that decision was that it [the match] would end late, so that they would give us more time to rest.

‘I support testing myself or anyone – a hundred times, no problem, but not before the match.’

The testing didn’t ultimately affect Djokovic’s performance as he beat Norrie 6-4, 6-4 but his remarks have attracted criticism from Madiot, who leads the Groupama-FDJ cycling team.

Madiot, who didn’t seem to know about the choice of pre or post-match testing, told RMC Sport: ‘We have the right to test before and after a competition. He refused the test before the competition.

‘If the anti-doping body does its job, Mr Djokovic must be suspended. In cycling, you are subjected to a test and if you refuse, you are [deemed to test] positive. If you are positive, you are sanctioned.

Marc Madiot, the head of the Groupama-FDJ cycling team, was critical of Djokovic

‘You do not have the right to refuse a test, that’s the regulation.’

Former road cyclist Madiot added: ‘There are products in the range of doping products that can be detected over an extremely limited time.

‘If you do not check before the start of the competition, the time of the competition allows you to eliminate traces of the doping product.

‘That is the reason why the test before the competition was introduced. It’s surreal to be warned – it’s no longer an unexpected test.’

Djokovic did receive some sympathy from the former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli, however.

‘There is a unanimous rule: checks are always carried out after the match,’ she said. ‘As there is a dehydration effect, the urine concentration is greater.

‘The tests to check a doping product are closer to reality because the urine is more concentrated. It’s making a ‘trial’ which is completely false.’

Djokovic wasn’t thrown off his stride as he beat Britain’s Norrie in two sets in Malaga

The ITIA said: ‘The first thing to say is that Djokovic did not refuse the test. The rules state that when a player is notified, they must provide a sample as soon as they can.

‘In team competitions such as the Davis Cup, players may be informed before a match, whereas in other competitions testing usually takes place after the match. The procedure has not been changed, either for this event or for the player.

‘In Davis Cup, teams are notified before the start of the match. This allows players to choose if they prefer to do it before their match, otherwise it will be after, a member of the organisation told us.

‘They have a choice. Some players prefer to do it before, it frees them up after the meeting, which is also not bad, they avoid staying on site too long after the end of a meeting.’

Tennis has stepped up its anti-doping measures in recent years – although there was a hiatus during the pandemic – and WADA tests are in addition to those carried out by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, which has developed a biological passport system. 

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