Roger Federer calls for more stringent drug testing in tennis

Roger Federer calls for more stringent drug testing in tennis

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Tennis legend Roger Federer feels that the authorities should lay emphasis on funding the anti-doping programs and also increase the number of drug tests in order to make tennis a clean sport. Federer also felt that after a six-month break, he is fit enough to win another Grand Slam in 2017.

“It’s really hard for me to tell but with all the money we have in the sport, you would think they would have more funding for the anti-doping programme,” Federer told the reporters on Friday.

“That seems logical to me but maybe it’s not so logical to get that money because we’ve had some issues in the past but it’s not been all the time everywhere. But I would like to see more funding, no doubt about it, especially during the off season. I would like to see more funding for when the players work the hardest. I’ve always said it - the best way is that you get tested every let’s say quarter-final that you play in a tournament so you know there will be testers there when the prize money and the points go up,” he expressed his opinion about making the sport free of doping.

The 35-year old also felt that all the countries associated with the sport should conduct regular tests on their players.

“I think for the players minds it will be a good thing to have, and for the off season you don’t want just a few countries to do their utmost and for other countries to never test. It needs to be across the board and that’s why I think internationally it needs a lot of funding and how you get to that money is another debate but I think we could definitely do with more funding overall,” he suggested.

Federer also reiterated his belief that a zero-tolerance approach must be taken to stamp out match-fixing. He said: “To be honest I thought more of it would come out in Melbourne. We don’t like to see it and hear about it, but if it is there and it is real then we need to fix it as quickly as possible.”

Returning from a six-month break, the former World No.1 felt that Novak Djokovic and Andry Murray are the men to beat in the next year.

“I expect Novak to be No 1 at some point again in his career - it’ll be hard in the next few months because of the sheer domination he had at the beginning of this year so I think Andy will hang on to it for a while. But then again we have to see who stays injury-free, that plays a lot into it as well.

“It’ll be a bit of a neck and neck race for the next six months to a year. If anybody wants to break that they’ll have to win two slams, so it’s pretty much on Novak and Andy’s racket at the moment,” Federer said.

The 17-time Grand Slam winner was also optimistic about his chances of winning yet another title. “The mindset is always very positive that it can happen and should happen, and that I’m doing everything I possibly can to achieve that. I’m very positive with my team of winning another major and winning the tough matches, and physically to be in tip-top shape when that slam semi or final comes around.

“I’ve been close but Novak had an incredible run, and it was difficult for anyone to break through him. So it’s up to us to reinvent ourselves and come up with a plan to beat Novak, and Andy has shown that a little bit and given belief to the players that there is a chance to win a slam,” he said.

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