Nick Kyrgios has sharply criticized what he perceives as lenient treatment towards world number one, Jannik Sinner, following a doping scandal, declaring that tennis’ integrity is awful.
Sinner twice tested positive for clostebol, a banned steroid, in March. However, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) chose not to suspend him after accepting his argument that the steroid entered his system through contamination by his physiotherapist.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) subsequently appealed the decision, taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with the verdict still pending.
In a press conference ahead of his return to tennis at the Brisbane International after an 18-month injury break, Kyrgios expressed his frustration with the situation.
“Tennis integrity right now, and everyone knows it, but no one wants to speak about it – it’s awful,” said the Australian, who has been vocal about the issue before. “It’s actually awful and it’s not okay. I know that people don’t like it when I just speak out about things, be honest about things.”
Kyrgios, who has often been known for his fiery on-court personality, compared the actions of athletes who cheat with drugs to his own emotional outbursts.
“For a kid that grew up playing tennis, I enjoyed the competition, I enjoyed playing,” he said. “I can get emotional, I can throw a racquet, but that’s nothing compared to cheating and taking performance-enhancing drugs.”
When asked whether he was accusing Sinner of cheating, Kyrgios pointed to the facts of the case.
“He did fail two doping tests at separate times,” Kyrgios noted. “It wasn’t one after the other—they were at different times. So, if you think that’s the way it got in his system if that’s what you believe happened… But if he didn’t do anything wrong, why did they take his prize money and points away? Obviously, they found something wrong with it.”
Kyrgios also aimed at the recent doping suspension of former women’s world number one Iga Swiatek, which further tarnished the sport’s image.
“Two world number ones both getting done for doping is disgusting for our sport. It’s a horrible look,” Kyrgios remarked. “It’s been handled horrifically in our sport.”
Swiatek, who tested positive for a substance, had her suspension reduced to one month after the ITIA ruled her violation was unintentional.
Kyrgios, who is recovering from knee and wrist injuries sustained at the 2022 US Open, also gave an update on his injury status ahead of his comeback.
“I’m just not going to take anything for granted,” Kyrgios said. “I’m going to go out there and play. It’s literally going to be a day-by-day symptomatic injury moving forward. If I play a long match, jam it the right way, who knows how it’s going to pull up the next day.”
Kyrgios’s return match is scheduled against French rising star Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at the Brisbane International.
