Thanasi Kokkinakis was enraged by the frequent doping test that he has been subject to recently.
The Australian will always be considered as one of the more talented players who never properly broke through on the ATP Tour. Kokkinakis often struggled with injuries in his career, and even today, his career-best in the ATP Rankings is 65th position.
Only recently, the 28-year-old got closer to achieving that position again, as he improved by 12 positions in the latest ATP Rankings update, and that was thanks to his win at the ATP Challenger tournament in Sarasota, Florida, United States.
It seems like the Australian’s good form was suspicious to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), as they have decided to test Kokkinakis more frequently than any player is tested on average.
For example, during the whole 2021 season, Novak Djokovic was tested 21 times, while Rafael Nadal underwent 14 tests. The most-tested player was Barbora Krejcikova, who underwent 36 tests, which translates to 0.7 tests per week during a 52-week period.
These tests can be conducted in different ways and in different places. Anti-doping tests can be either in-tournament or out-of-tournament tests, meaning players can also be tested while they are at home. The nature of the tests can also be different, as either a urine sample or blood can be requested.
For Kokkinakis, however, these tests have been much more frequent than the most-tested player in 2021 experienced. According to his own words, the Australian was tested three times over a six-day period, which means he was tested five times more over that period than Krejcikova in 2021.
“3 drug tests in 6 days… this is insane.”
The 2022 Australian Open doubles champion isn’t the only player who struggled with doping tests recently. World no. 110, Alexandre Muller jokingly tweeted that if he would be doping, his results would have been much better.
“Hello ATP Tour, I don’t know if you know me but I would like the anti-doping controls every week to stop, I wouldn’t lose in the first or second round every week if I was doped thank you so much.”
=https://twitter.com/TKokkinakis/status/1781199897556918716″ data-service=”twitter”>
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