American tennis legend Serena Williams criticized the sport's anti-doping testing protocols as grueling during a packed news conference at Wimbledon on Sunday, revealing that the strict daily reporting requirements nearly deterred her from making a competitive comeback.
The 44-year-old seven-time Wimbledon champion rejoined the drug-testing pool in December to prepare for her return after a four-year singles absence.
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Williams is scheduled to play Australian world number 53 Maya Joint on Centre Court on Tuesday after accepting a singles wild card.
"It's grueling.
That was a big reason why I didn't want to come back either, because it's just so hard," said Williams, according to BBC Sport.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion explained that managing her business commitments and family life makes adhering to the strict whereabouts tracking system particularly challenging.
"My life is busy, I run a [venture capital] company, I travel the world. I have children.
It's like I could be in so many different cities so many different times," Williams said.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) mandates that players in the testing pool provide a specific one-hour window each day for potential no-notice testing, with three missed tests in 12 months resulting in a sanction.
"It's unprofessional. I hate it.
I think 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," Williams said.
