Aryna Sabalenka has had her say on Tennis’ dark doping cloud after Max Purcell’s voluntary admission

Ahead of the Brisbane International, world number one Aryna Sabalenka has weighed in on the dark anti-doping cloud currently surrounding Tennis.

Defending Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka believes “we will never know the truth” behind anti-doping bans in tennis as a dark cloud hangs over the sport ahead of next month’s major at Melbourne Park.

On Monday, Australian Max Purcell became the latest tennis star caught up in the anti-doping controversy after confessing to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) he had unknowingly received an IV that exceeded the 100ml legal limit.

Purcell has accepted a provisional suspension that will keep him from competing at the upcoming Brisbane International and Australian Open however two of his higher-profile peers will be free to play this summer.

Aryna Sabalenka believes we will never ‘know the truth’ around doping in sport. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images for Tennis Australia

Men’s world No.1 Jannik Sinner and women’s world No.2 Iga Swiatek were both hit with doping infractions after testing positive for the banned substances clostebol and trimetazidine (TMZ) respectively.

Sinner appealed his provisional suspension and was later cleared of any wrongdoing by an independent tribunal, while Swiatek quietly served a one-month suspension from September 12 to October 4 which was only officially announced last month.

Speaking in Brisbane on Tuesday ahead of the Brisbane International later this week, Sabalenka was asked for her opinion on the Swiatek case ahead of a potential showdown at the Australian Open.

“I feel like we will never know the truth,” she said.

“People are overreacting at the first minute the big news comes out.

“I feel like, I don’t want to dig too deep into that (Swiatek) case.

“I really believe in a clean sport, so I don’t want to comment on that anymore.”

Max Purcell (R) won’t participate in the Australian Summer of tennis. Picture: Thomas COEX / AFP

Sabalenka will be the hot favourite to win the Brisbane International before turning her attention to the Australian Open, where she will aim to become the first female player since Martina Hingis (1997-99) to win three-straight titles at Melbourne Park.

The 26 year old will end the year as world No.1 for the first time in her career and earlier this month was named WTA Player of the Year.

But Sabalenka warned we are still yet to see the best version of her Down Under.

“There are so many things to improve,” she said.

“I’m not that good with the game at the net, there are a lot of things to improve in my touch game … even my serve is not as good as I wanted it to be, so there are always gaps to improve.

“I feel fresh and ready to go. I love Australia and I will always come here hungry and always come here ready and as good as possible.”

Originally published as Aryna Sabalenka has had her say on Tennis’ dark doping cloud after Max Purcell’s voluntary admission