"He cheated the sport. He cheated many people around the world with his career and his life story," said the Serb. "He should pay for his lies over all these years."
In the television interview with Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong admitted to having doped himself with EPO, autologous blood, cortisone and growth hormones, among other things, from the mid-1990s to 2005.
Djokovic's compatriot Janko Tipsarevic also attacked the American. "He has betrayed so many people in the sport and in his environment," scolded the Serb. The Russian world number two Maria Sharapova described the events surrounding Armstrong as a "very sad story".
However, the tennis stars consider their own sport to be clean. "In my eyes, the anti-doping rules in tennis are good," said Djokovic. "I think tennis players are some of the cleanest athletes in the world." However, the 25-year-old admitted that he had not had any blood tests in the past six or seven months. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has reduced these for cost reasons.
However, he has nothing against an expansion of the tests. "The more urine tests, the more blood tests they take, the better. Then you're sure it's a clean sport and everyone gets the same treatment," said Djokovic. Sharapova agreed with him. "I'm glad that our sport is as clean as it can be and that we are tested so often," said the former world number one.
Every player always has to state exactly when, where and for how long. She has even been tested on her birthday, "and they didn't even bring flowers," joked the Russian, before turning serious again. "Whether it's urine or blood tests, we're all there to keep the sport as clean as possible."
