SYDNEY, Australia -- Marat Safin says blood testing for the banned performance-enhancing substance EPO is invasive and unnecessary, and that players weren't properly consulted about its introduction in tennis.

Blood testing for EPO -- short for erythropoieten -- is expected to be conducted for the first time at a Grand Slam tennis tournament starting next week at the Australian Open.

Safin, a finalist at Melbourne Park last year, said there was already enough drug testing and that EPO wasn't a big issue in tennis.

"We go for too much. First of all, we have to go for the urine testing, now we have to go to EPO -- I said to the ATP that I don't think it's correct, but they really didn't listen,'' Safin said after withdrawing from the adidas International on Thursday with a shoulder problem.

The former U.S. Open champion said some people were afraid of needles, others could object on cultural or religious grounds. He said fellow Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov was one of the people who doesn't want a needle put into his vein.

"Not every person can take it, easily,'' Safin said. "Some people, they get dizzy afterward.''

The Australian Sports Drug Agency, which can be commissioned to conduct EPO tests throughout Australia, said only 10-12 milliliters (less than half a fluid ounce) of blood is taken in a dual-test format, which also involves a urine test.

An Australian Open official said it was agreed in principle that blood-testing could be conducted at Melbourne Park. However, he said the blood tests were supposed to be random and, so, wouldn't necessarily start at the Australian Open from Jan. 13-16.

Safin said tennis players didn't need endurance-enhancing drugs due to the nature of the sport.

"I'm sure that nobody needs to take any drugs to be able to play on the court,'' he said. "It's not the kind of sport like cycling, for example, where you have to go to the mountains for six hours. It's one hour and a half of tennis, it's not so much.''

Safin seems to be in a minority of players who oppose the blood tests.

The plan to test for EPO, which raises the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood, was presented to players at Wimbledon last summer. A players council met two days before the U.S. Open and indicated it was in favor of the testing. Players already are tested for recreational drugs and steroids.

Belgian women Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, No. 4 and No. 5 in the women's rankings, are strong advocates of the blood doping.

Clijsters, who is on the WTA player's committee, said as much testing as possible was good for the sport.

"The only thing is I'm a bit scared of needles -- that's the only way to test for EPO, is with a blood test -- so that's the only problem, but I could learn,'' she said.

Henin said she was 100-percent behind the extra testing.

"It will prove tennis is OK -- it will be good for tennis,'' she said.

Tests will be given to players on the men's and women's pro tours -- the ATP and WTA -- and members of the International Tennis Federation, which oversees the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Davis Cup and Fed Cup.

A positive test for EPO would result in a two-year suspension. A second offense would be punished by a lifetime ban.

In recent years, two Argentine players were suspended after testing positive for banned substances. Petr Korda, who won the 1998 Australian Open, tested positive for the steroid nandrolone at Wimbledon later that year. He was banned for a year.

EPO has been prevalent among athletes in sports such as cycling and cross-country skiing.