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Marion Bartoli thinks it is "disgusting, shameful, and completely unjustified" to request a doping test from Novak Djokovic before a match and then have the audacity to accuse him of pulling off some kind of dirty tricks.
Last week, Djokovic had a very important statement to make following his Davis Cup win over Cameron Norrie as he wanted to tell the press about what happened to him before the match. According to Djokovic, he was requested to take a pre-match doping test - he refused to do so because he didn't know how giving blood and urine could impact his body and performance.
Also, Djokovic claimed something like that "never happened in my 20 years" and said he felt it was "a shameful move" by the anti-doping authorities. Some started even accusing Djokovic of certain things but it all came to an end after the ITIA said in a statement that "Djokovic did not refuse a test" since he was given a choice to also give his sample after the match and he did so.
Bartoli comes to Djokovic's defense
"When you know you're going to have a doping test, you have someone following you all day. As soon as you leave the court, he follows you, he is in the locker room when you take your shower.
And if you can't go to the bathroom he accompanies you to a press conference until you can urinate. So I don't see what difference it makes whether it's done before or after, especially since after the matches the urinary concentration is greater because during the match there is a dehydration effect.
The 'trial' that we tried to do against Djokovic is linked to a certain British press which knows nothing, and which allows itself to accuse the players, it’s disgusting, it’s shameful and completely unjustified," Bartoli said on RMC Sports' show Les Grandes Gueules du Sport.
Djokovic, 36, has been in pro tennis for around 20 years and he has never failed a doping test. When talking about being asked to take a pre-match doping test, Djokovic said he never ran away from taking a doping test but just wants it to happen after matches.