Serena Williams has strongly criticized the anti-doping whereabouts rules that require tennis players to declare their location daily, calling the system "unprofessional" and revealing it was a major factor in delaying her return from retirement. The 23-time Grand Slam champion spoke ahead of her first singles match since 2022, facing Australia's Maya Joint in the Wimbledon first round on Tuesday.
Serena Williams Returns to Singles After Four Years
The 44-year-old American legend made a sensational comeback after four years in retirement, initially playing doubles at Queen's Club and Berlin before deciding to step up her return at Wimbledon. She will also compete in doubles with her sister Venus. However, her stunning decision to pick up a racquet again has brought unwanted stress due to the sport's anti-doping requirements.
Whereabouts Rules Under Fire
Williams had to enter the anti-doping testing pool several months before being allowed to officially return to the women's tour. Tennis's 'whereabouts rules' require players to provide a location and one-hour time slot for testing each day of the year. Refusing a test or failing to update whereabouts three times within 12 months can lead to sanctions. Players can also be randomly tested at any time.
Williams expressed her frustration with the system, which has changed since she last played. "It's gruelling. They changed the rules now. I didn't know some of the rules. So apparently if you miss a test outside of your window, it still counts as missed. I'm like, I guess I can't go pick up my kids," she told reporters at Wimbledon on Sunday. "It's unprofessional. I hate it. It's necessary, but I think a lot of the stuff, if I want to go places outside of my window, I should be able to go without having it count as a missed test."
She added: "There has to be a different way to make it reasonable because that's just unreasonable. That was a big reason why I didn't want to come back either, because it's just so hard."
Recent Doping Ban Adds Context
Williams's blast comes just days after the International Tennis Integrity Agency handed a four-year ban to former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, who refused an anti-doping test in December, saying she was scared to let a doping official into her house.
Balancing Motherhood and Testing
Williams is a mother of two young daughters, and the drug test demands are an awkward addition to her daily schedule. The seven-time Wimbledon winner acknowledged that testing is necessary to keep the sport clean but said adapting to the routine is a work in progress. "But just getting that discipline of reporting. Obviously I don't mind because I always have been very clear about what I do. I guess now for 24 hours where I'm going to be is just different - at least for me. I don't know if that works for everyone else."
Even now, Serena is not quite sure she made the right decision to return to compete in singles after so long away.
