Nick Kyrgios aimed a cheeky dig at Jannik Sinner after being singled out for a drugs test before having second thoughts and quickly deleting his post.
The loud-mouthed Aussie has been a vocal critic of players charged with doping offences, believing it damages the integrity of tennis. He has been particularly scathing of Sinner, who tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid in March.
An independent panel accepted Sinner’s explanation that it entered his body from a massage with his physio, who had used it to treat a cut on his own finger.
An appeal has since been lodged by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), who are calling for the Italian player to be handed a suspension of up to two years.
On Monday night, Kyrgios took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce that he had been selected for an out-of-competition drugs test. He appeared to call out Sinner while suggesting that such tests are ‘pointless’ because offenders are still allowed to play.
“Ahhhh I got randomly drug tested again today,” wrote Kyrgios. “That’s about four times in the last two months. Blood as well. Absolutely pointless as even if you test positive you can play anyway.”
Kyrgios is never usually one to back down but, on this occasion, he appeared to have a change of heart and deleted his post after only a few minutes.
It comes just days after the 29-year-old issued a damning review of the sport’s current state, in which he also mentioned Iga Swiatek receiving a one-month ban after submitting a positive test in August.
“Two world No 1s both getting done for doping is disgusting for our sport,” said Kyrgios in a press conference ahead of the Brisbane International.
“It’s a horrible look. Tennis integrity right now, and everyone knows it but no one wants to speak about it, is awful. I would never even in my entire life ever try and dope in this sport, especially going through an injury like I went through.
“Obviously there are things out there that could speed up healing, help me get back to prime level, help my recovery. There’s so many things out there that are prohibited in our sport that I could have been doing. That’s just not who I am.”
Reflecting on Sinner’s case, Kyrgios added: “I [pay] my team hundreds and thousands of dollars to be the professionals they are, to make sure that doesn’t happen, so they [Sinner’s team] knew it happened.
“Why did they wait five to six months to do anything about it? He kept his team for five months. That doesn’t make sense.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk