Tennis stars urge investigation into pros taking advantage of focus-enhancing ADHD drug
James Allemby, who coaches Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong, says the issue deserves ‘a bigger lens’ than recent doping cases
Several tennis professionals want the game’s governing bodies to investigate the number of players taking ADHD medication, claiming it could enhance their focus in matches.
James Allemby, coach of Hong Kong’s No 1 tennis player Coleman Wong Chak-lam, said the issue deserved “a bigger lens” than the doping scandals surrounding multiple grand slam winners Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek.
The debate around players diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder taking Adderall, which contains amphetamine and makes the user more awake, focused and calm, was reignited earlier this year when Brazilian Karue Sell said the sport was not clean.
“The feeling you get when you’re on Adderall is that you’re locked in all the time,” Allemby said. “You don’t have that loose second serve return when you’re down 15-40 in a match, it just doesn’t happen because you’re so tuned in.”
Speaking on a tennis podcast in January, when asked if the sport was clean, Sell said no and referenced the use of Adderall.
“We’ve got a bunch of guys taking Adderall,” Sell said. “I personally don’t think tennis is clean, I’m more on the case of players who can take Adderall [where] you can just be locked in mentally for hours.