Tomas Berdych tells Reuters that current anti-doping measures in tennis are a disaster, but adds that he thinks the introduction of biological passports should improve things.
“The system right now... I don’t know how it works with the others but with me, it does not work at all,” Berdych said. “You have to say every single day... where you are. I’ve done this for three or four years already and I had only two tests out of the tournaments. So why do I have to do this all the time and then they come twice in four years? It’s just like complete nonsense.”
Many players have complained about the WADA/ITF rules, where players must give their location for at least one hour every day in case they are required to take an out-of-competition test.
“If some people were hired to think about that and have come up with this kind of idea, if it was me, I would have fired them straight away,” Berdych said. “This system is a complete disaster. So whatever they’re going to do differently, it’s going to be good, new or whatever.”
The ITF will introduce biological passports for players this year, where test results are collected over time to enable anti-doping authorities to track any changes that might indicate doping. Berdych agreed there should be more tests.