Andy Murray says he has, at times, suspected players on the ATP tour of doping, and has called once again for increased anti-doping efforts.
Boris Becker, Novak Djokovic's coach and a six-time Grand Slam champion, criticized Murray's comments, saying players should not be accused unless they have tested positive.
In an interview with the *Daily Mail*on Sunday, Murray acknowledged he has wondered about some of his opponents.
"I have played against players and thought, 'They won’t go away,' or 'They don’t seem to be getting tired,' he said, adding that he’s had suspicions about specific players. "You hear things."
Murray said he practiced with Wayne Odesnik, who has been banned following two anti-doping violations, in the past, and told the newspaper that his upper body is "huge."
The world No. 2 did note that it’s difficult to detect who might be doping.
“It’s harder to tell in our sport, as people can make big improvements to a stroke or start serving better because they have made technical changes,” he said. “If it’s purely physical, and you’re watching someone playing six-hour matches over and over and showing no signs of being tired, you’d look at that."
He wants to see a significant increase in spending to combat potential problems.
"The winners of tournaments are getting £700,000, yet the anti-doping program for the year is probably a few million dollars," Murray said.
Becker told the *Daily Mail* that Murray should not "throw in a curveball and assume something because somebody has won a Grand Slam or is fitter."
“We have random drug testing, and unless it's proven, they are 100 percent innocent," he said. “…Andy is one of the fittest players on the tour. He often outlasts other players and nobody is questioning his ethics … It's a very dangerous subject. I can only repeat that tennis is clean. I believe 100 percent Andy is clean. Roger [Federer] is clean, Rafa [Nadal] is clean, Stan [Wawrinka] is clean. All these guys.
"There was always a suspicion of Rafa, and I find that unbelievably disrespectful about one of the greatest players of all-time."
Djokovic was tested twice during the Australian Open, he noted, and has been tested frequently.
Following Maria Sharapova's announcement that she tested positive at the Australian Open, the International Tennis Federation released a statement saying that the Russian would be suspended until her hearing before an independent tribunal. In some instances, like Sharapova's, anti-doping rules require pre-hearing suspensions, but no announcement is necessary before unless a tribunal issues an official suspension.
Murray said officials should be required to announce pre-hearing suspensions to avoid creating the impression of a cover-up, and indicated that the rule was being changed.
“i just don’t think sport should be doing anything to try to protect their biggest stars, or anyone who cheats,” he said. “Whether it is with match-fixing or with doping, at the first sign of it looking like there’s a problem, you have to make your best efforts to try to change that, rather than just saying, 'It’s a one-off' or 'This is very rare.’
"When someone like Sharapova is banned, I see that as being a positive ... If that stuff is happening and you don’t hear about it, I have a big issue, because it’s like the sport is covering up for the big stars ... If someone is going through that process, the tennis world should let people know and, as far as I’m aware, they are changing that rule now.
"If someone is serving that suspension period, or the period where they are arguing it or trying to come to conclusions [about] what the sentence is going to be, that is going to become public knowledge.”