London: Roger Federer has demanded greater investment in anti-doping programmes from the tennis authorities and called for more regular drug-testing.
Doping in tennis has been under scrutiny since former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova was given a two-year suspension in March — later reduced to 15 months on appeal — for taking the banned substance Meldonium, and Federer would like to see more of the sport’s wealth used to tackle the issue.
In a week when the Australian Open has increased prize money to a record total of pounds 29.4 million, tennis’s anti-doping annual budget of about $4 million (pounds 3.2 million) — paid for by the ITF, ATP, WTA and the four grand slam events — has been brought into sharp relief. Federer said: “It’s really hard for me to tell but with all the money we have in the sport, you would think they would have more funding for the anti-doping programme.
“That seems logical to me but maybe it’s not so logical to get that money because we’ve had some issues in the past but it’s not been all the time everywhere. But I would like to see more funding, no doubt about it, especially during the off season.
“I would like to see more funding for when the players work the hardest. I’ve always said it — the best way is that you get tested every, let’s say, quarter-final that you play in a tournament so you know there will be testers there when the prize money and the points go up.
“For the players’ minds, it will be a good thing to have, and for the off season you don’t want just a few countries to do their utmost and for other countries to never test. It needs to be across the board and that’s why I think internationally it needs a lot of funding.”
Federer also reiterated his belief that a zero-tolerance approach must be taken to match-fixing. He said: “We don’t like to see it and hear about it, but if it is there and it is real then we need to fix it as quickly as possible.”
Federer, who has been sidelined since the Wimbledon semi-final in July because of a knee injury, also praised Andy Murray for overhauling Novak Djokovic as world No.1. “I’m not surprised Andy did it because he’s won so many titles, and grand slams. That’s why I always expected him to be No. 1 at some point,” Federer said.
“I was surprised he finished the year as No. 1 because of Novak’s start but even more credit to Andy for not just being No. 1 but finishing as No. 1, because those are two separate things. Becoming No. 1 for a week or finishing a year as world No. 1 is a different animal, so I really respect in a big way that he was able to do it.”
Federer is coming to the end of a month-long training block in Dubai and will begin his comeback at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia early next month.
— The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2016
