Andy Murray has called on tennis authorities to make its drug testing system “more transparent”.
Murray was discussing Serena Williams‘ recent comments, after the 23-time Grand Slam champion said she was being “discriminated” by being tested more often than other players.
“I don’t know all the details or numbers and the actual facts of how much everyone individually gets tested,” Murray said. “Maybe tennis could do a better job of being a bit more transparent with that and kind of showing exactly how many tests everyone has had.
“Sometimes from what I’ve seen it’s quite vague, like they put 7-plus so that means that someone could have had seven (tests) or someone could have had twenty — which is obviously quite a big difference.
“Certainly since I first came on tour there’s significantly more testing but that doesn’t mean there is necessarily enough because in comparison with other sports we don’t get tested loads. There’s enough money in tennis for us to have a better programme probably.”
Murray, a three-time Grand Slam winner, is one of tennis’ most vocal critics of drug cheats and has previously called on stronger punishments for players returning from doping bans.
The 31-year-old was speaking at a press conference ahead of his return to competitive action at the Citi Open in Washington D.C.
Murray has only played three matches since undergoing hip surgery in January and last month was forced to pull out of Wimbledon on the eve of the championships due to a lack of match fitness.
He is scheduled to play American Mackenzie McDonald on Monday evening, with the match marking his return to the hard courts for the first time since March 2017.
“It sort of feels like I am starting from scratch again,” Murray told Tennis TV on Sunday.
“I haven’t been in that position since I was kind of 18 so I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be hard but it should be fun.”