Tennis Controversies of the Week: WTA in hot water over Iga Swiatek's doping test row statement; Novak Djokovic's fans' "abuse" brought to light, and more

Women's Tennis Association (WTA) faced backlash over their statement on Iga Swiatek's doping test incident. In other news, Thanasi Kokkinakis called out Novak Djokovic's "abusive" social media fandom.

Meanwhile, ATP received criticism for snubbing Jannik Sinner and his coaches in 2024 Awards nominations. Eugenie Bouchard landed in hot water for backing Nick Kyrgios over his comments on Iga Swiatek doping controversy.

Also, Simona Halep sparked outrage for her take on Swiatek’s doping controversy.

On that note, here's a recap of the top tennis controversies from last week:

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WTA received criticism for their response to Iga Swiatek's doping test controversy

The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) faced criticism for issuing a statement in support of the former World No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who was handed a one-month ban after testing positive for the banned substance Trimetazidine (TMZ) in August this year.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency's investigation concluded the violation was unintentional, stemming from contaminated melatonin medication. Swiatek accepted the ban after being provisionally suspended from September 12 to October 4.

The WTA issued a statement emphasizing its support for Swiatek and the importance of a "clean" sport, highlighting her commitment to fair play.

Read the WTA's statement on Iga Swiatek's doping saga below:

However, tennis fans criticized the WTA's statement on social media, accusing it of double standards, claiming that similar support was not offered to players like Simona Halep and Beatriz Haddad Maia in previous doping cases.

Iga Swiatek recently wrapped up her 2024 season after her campaign at the Billie Jean King Cup in Malaga, Spain, where she led the team Poland to the semifinals, eventually losing 1-2 to eventual champions Italy.

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Thanasi Kokkinakis slammed Novak Djokovic's "abusive" social media fandom

Thanasi Kokkinakis took aim at tennis legend Novak Djokovic's social media fans, saying that many aggressively attack those with differing opinions. Djokovic has over 35 million social media followers who fiercely defend him and often clash with his rivals' fans.

During a recent UTS Tour conversation with Denis Shapovalov and Dominic Thiem, Kokkinakis mocked Djokovic's X (formerly Twitter) fanbase. The Australian tennis star pointed out that many of these fans can be recognized by the crocodile emoji in their profile names, representing Djokovic's sponsor, Lacoste.

"The tennis Twitter, if you like Djokovic, like, everyone in their little Lacoste emojis, these little crocodiles, they're there for you. You know what I mean," Kokkinakis told Shapovalov.

"You know they're Djokovic fans because they got a little crocodile on their thing, and they're just abusing you dude. And they're not even Serb, but they're abusing you," Kokkinakis added.

The UTS (Ultimate Tennis Showdown) Grand Final in London is scheduled to take place from December 6 to 8. Wildcard entrant Thanasi Kokkinakis has been placed in Group A alongside Andrey Rublev, Ugo Humbert, and Gael Monfils.

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Eugenie Bouchard drew flak for aligning with Nick Kyrgios' remarks on Iga Swiatek doping saga

Eugenie Bouchard faced backlash for supporting Nick Kyrgios' criticism of Iga Swiatek's defense in her doping case, particularly given Kyrgios' controversial history involving domestic violence.

Kyrgios voiced his disapproval of the ITIA's "no significant fault or negligence" verdict on X, arguing that players could now avoid penalties by claiming ignorance.

"The excuse that we can all use is that we didn’t know. Simply didn’t know. Professionals at the highest level of sport can now just say “we didn’t know," he said.

Former Wimbledon finalist Bouchard backed Kyrgios' remarks by re-sharing his post and writing:

"Guess so"

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Simona Halep came under fire for her take on Iga Swiatek's doping case

Simona Halep faced criticism after releasing a detailed statement addressing Iga Swiatek's doping controversy, alleging unequal treatment of players. Halep, who tested positive for Roxadustat at the 2022 US Open, had faced a four-year ban from the ITIA, later reduced after a legal battle that allowed her to return earlier this year.

In light of Swiatek's positive test for trimetazidine (TMZ) on November 28, Halep shared her thoughts on Instagram, reflecting on her own struggles during her suspension and reiterating concerns she previously voiced regarding Jannik Sinner's doping case.

"I'm sitting and trying to understand, but it's really impossible for me to understand something like this. I stand and ask myself, why is there such a big difference in treatment and judgment? I can’t find and I don’t think there can be a logical answer. It can only be bad will from ITIA, the organization that has done absolutely everything to destroy me despite the evidence," Simona Halep wrote.

"I lost two years of my career, I lost many nights when I couldn’t sleep, thoughts, anxiety, questions without answers... but I won justice. It turned out that it was a contamination and that the biological passport was a pure invention. And I won something else, my soul remained clean!! I feel disappointed, I feel mad, I feel frustrated, but I do not feel evil even now," Halep added.

Many tennis fans on social media reacted strongly to Halep's statement and pointed out the differences between her, Iga Swiatek, and Jannik Sinner's case.

Here are some of the reactions from X (formerly Twitter):

"1. The amount of substance in her system was *much higher*. 2. Her biological passport also had significant irregularities indicative of a more long term history of doping," a user wrote.

"I hope one day we'll talk about the way Simona brainwashed tennis media and fans into believing she's some sort of victim in that situation. Read the official documents of her case before making claims it was the same as Iga's or Jannik's..." another user wrote.

"She has the means to seek legal support and ask the legal expert to compare the two reports and identify how the cases are different. She definitely won’t get answers from social media. The rules were not applied differently," another added.

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ATP received criticism for omitting Jannik Sinner and his coaches from the 2024 Awards nominations

Jannik Sinner at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals (Image source: Getty)

The ATP received flak for excluding World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and his coaches, Simone Vagnozzi and Darren Cahill, from the 2024 Award nominations.

The nominations spanned five categories: Comeback Player of the Year, Most Improved Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award, and Coach of the Year.

Nominees for the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award include Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud, Grigor Dimitrov, and Dominic Thiem, who recently retired. Meanwhile, the Coach of the Year category featured Xavier Malisse (coach of Alexei Popyrin), Emmanuel Planque (coach of Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard), Michael Russell (coach of US Open finalist Taylor Fritz), Brad Stine (coach of Tommy Paul), and James Trotman (coach of Jack Draper).

Despite his composed on-court demeanor, Sinner was omitted from the Sportsmanship Award list. His coaches, pivotal to his Australian Open and US Open victories, were also absent from the Coach of the Year nominations.