Martina Navratilova gives her verdict on tennis' latest doping controversy with Max Purcell

Martina Navratilova expressed her views on Max Purcell's provisional ban from pro tennis. The American legend called out the healthcare professionals who gave the Aussie over 100 millilitres of vitamins, which led to the "prohibited method" decision against him.

Earlier on Monday (December 23), Purcell announced on social media that he had recently been provisionally banned by the International Tennis Integrity Association (ITIA). The 26-year-old claimed that he had received an IV infusion of vitamins above the permissible 100ml limit despite asking the clinic to administer him vitamins under 100ml due to WADA's doping regulations.

"I have voluntarily accepted a provisional suspension since I unknowingly received an IV infusion of vitamins above the allowable limit of 100ml," Max Purcell wrote on Instagram. "Until last week when I received medical records from a clinic showing that the amount of an IV I received was above 100ml, I was fully convinced I had done everything to ensure that I had followed the WADA regulations and methods."

"But the records show that the IV was over the 100ml limit, even though I told the clinic that I was a professional athlete and needed the IV to be under 100ml," he added.

Against that background, Martina Navratilova expressed her opinion on Purcell's provisional ban on Monday. She claimed that the pros have little to no influence when it comes to their taking supplements.

"What? He got 101 ml? How much more?" Martina Navratilova wrote on her X (formerly Twitter account. "And how do players manage to control this when the professionals giving the IV are this incapable?"

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Martina Navratilova's swipe at WADA after Jannik Sinner doping scandal: "What a bad system"

Martina Navratilova at the 2023 WTA Finals

In September, Martina Navratilova slammed the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)'s decision to appeal against the International Tennis Integrity Association (ITIA) ruling that Jannik Sinner bore "no fault nor negligence" for the prohibited substance Clostebol being found in his system.

The American rued the system that governs professional tennis in her post on X (formerly Twitter) while also alluding to how the WADA let the 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics off the hook and let them compete.

"This is nuts. WADA is a mess," Navratilova wrote on X.

"The Chinese swimmers walk and now this? What a bad system we have …" Navratilova wrote in another X post.

Navratilova is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, having competed from 1974 to 2006. The American won 18 Major titles in singles, 31 Major titles in women's doubles, and 10 Major titles in mixed doubles.