Serena Williams worries of hypocrisy after Jannik Sinner’s three-month doping ban

The three-month doping ban for world men’s No. 1 tennis player Jannik Sinner seemed lenient to Serena Williams.

The now-retired tennis superstar said she would’ve received a 20-year ban and lost her 23 Grand Slam titles in a similar situation.

Sinner accepted a three-month ban in February after testing positive for clostebol, a banned steroid.

I’ve been put down so much, I don’t want to bring anyone down. Men’s tennis needs him,” Williams told Time magazine. “[But] if I did that, I would have gotten 20 years. Let’s be honest. I would have gotten Grand Slams taken away from me.”

The timing of Sinner’s suspension will not cause him to miss any of the sport’s four majors. He is expected to compete in the French Open in May.

You would have heard about it in another multiverse,” Williams said of her hypothetical doping scandal.

Sinner was the latest tennis star to receive a relatively light punishment after testing positive for a banned substance. Simona Halep, a former world No. 1, saw her four-year suspension reduced to just nine months last year.

Iga Swiatek, the current world No. 2, was banned for just a month in November after testing positive for a banned heart medication.

Swiatek, like Sinner, did not miss any majors.

“These are not cases of intentional doping. We’re dealing with inadvertent breaches of the rules,” International Tennis Integrity Agency head Karen Moorhouse told reporters in November, referring to Swiatek and Sinner. “So I don’t think this is a cause for concern for tennis fans.”