• ATP World Tour Finals

Murray criticises 'unprofessional' Troicki and Cilic

Andy Murray says the sport needs to regain the trust of the public © Getty Images

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Andy Murray believes both Viktor Troicki and Marin Cilic were "unprofessional" in their actions leading to being given anti-doping bans.

Troicki had his ban reduced from 18 months to 12 earlier in the week, as the Serb failed to give a blood sample on the day he was asked to after losing at the Monte Carlo Masters in April. Troicki was told by the doping control officer (DCO) that he could return 24 hours later after saying he was ill and feared he could faint.

Djokovic slammed the ATP and anti-doping agency WADA for the way they have handled the Troicki case, with the Serb saying he has "lost trust" in the system and that the "negligence and unprofessionalism" of the DCO to allow Troicki to give blood a day later was to blame, something which the officer has since denied.

Cilic, meanwhile, had his ban reduced from nine months to four, and returned to the circuit at the Paris Masters after he tested positive for the banned substance nikethamide in April. The Croatian said he took a tablet containing the banned drug purchased by his mother at a pharmacy in France.

But Murray feels both players were "unprofessional" and wants the sport to regain the trust of the public, saying it "almost has to be zero tolerance" and that players must know the rules and consequences.

"I personally myself would never go and buy something over the counter in a pharmacy, it's just unprofessional," the Wimbledon champion told BBC Sport.

"I think 10 or 15 years ago, when people didn't think drug-taking happened in sport, people might have thought 'yeah, we can just buy stuff over the counter in any old pharmacy'. Look, we can't do that, you have to accept it."

The British No. 1, who is absent from the ATP World Tour Finals as he recovers from back surgery, tweeted the other night following the Troicki news and Djokovic rant.

Read and respect the rules and everything is very simple.

— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) November 6, 2013

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