Boris Becker calls it a "joke" that no tennis player had been punished for drug abuse by the Association of Tennis Professionals.
The tennis season is so long and grueling that many players need drugs to get through it, according to the German, who insists authorities in the sport have been able to keep it quiet.Becker made his allegation in the Christmas issue of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The newspaper released excerpts Thursday.
"Why shouldn't there be doping in a sport where there is so much money?" Becker was quoted as saying.
The ATP says it conducts many drug tests and that no player had ever tested positive. Asked if he doubted that, Becker was quoted as saying:
"Yes. I am not saying it had to be anabolic steroids, but coke, speed or marijuana, for sure."
"The question is whether the ATP would allow a positive drug test to come through, because the whole scene would fall into disrepute and the sponsors would really run away," he was quoted as saying.
Becker said he did not take drugs.
The ATP office in Ponte Vedra, Fla., was closed Thursday.