Zverev on Anti-Doping Agency: "I Had to Pick Up My Three-Year-Old Daughter, But They Told Me to Come Back"

Currently in Spain, Zverev will attempt to win another trophy in Madrid after his victories in 2018 and 2021. He will begin his campaign against Bautista Agut. During the pre-tournament press conference, the German addressed various topics, including anti-doping controls:

"Despite the cases of Sinner and Swiatek, nothing has changed for us. It’s a painful process, to be honest, because we have to be available at a specific time and place.

We provide our contact details and must be ready for one hour every day. But at the same time, if they don’t show up at the scheduled time, you still have to come back.

This happened to me at the end of last December when I had to pick up my daughter at Nice Airport and was required to undergo a doping test. I was supposed to be available for the agency around 7 or 8 in the morning, but they showed up at 9 PM.

They called me and said, 'You have to come back.' I replied, 'I can’t, I need to pick up a three-year-old girl.' And they wouldn’t listen: 'No, you have to return. Come back no matter what.'

It’s like they’re taking away part of our freedom to live. If you want to do it within the hour, fine—that’s the rule—but then you have to give us the freedom to live our lives.

Just because you decide to come at a random time instead of the allocated slot doesn’t mean I should completely change my plans and drop everything to suddenly be available for you. That’s not fair, in my opinion."