BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Just days away from his return to tennis at the Brisbane International, Nick Kyrgios hasn't minced his words in referring to doping-related charges against Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek, labelling breaches of the sport’s anti-doping program as “disgusting for our sport."
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) levelled charges against world No.1 Sinner and former world No.1 Iga Swiatek. Sinner tested positive twice for an anabolic steroid in March, but avoided a ban because the ITIA determined he was not to blame.
Swiatek also accepted a one-month suspension in November after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine.
“Two world No.1s both getting done for doping is disgusting for our sport. It’s a horrible look,” Kyrgios said at his Brisbane International press conference on Saturday. “Tennis integrity right now, and everyone knows it but no one wants to speak about it, it’s awful.”
Kyrgios, 29, has not played tournament tennis since June 2023 due to wrist and knee injuries. He was asked about his motivations for speaking out on the Sinner and Swiatek situations.
“Someone like me … I would never even in my entire life ever try and dope in this sport,” he said. “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 to get me back quicker … (but) that’s just not who I am. I’m always against that."
Sinner had successfully argued that his physiotherapist had accidentally contaminated him during treatment with clostebol which had transferred from a cut on his own hand.
Kyrgios raised questions over what happened next.
“I (pay) my team hundreds and thousands of dollars to be the professionals they are, to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Kyrgios said. “So they 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."
Kyrgios will take on 21-year-old Giovanni Perricard of France in the first round in Brisbane.
It will be the first tour-level appearance by Kyrgios since the Stuttgart Open in June 2023. Kyrgios has been mostly sidelined with career-threatening wrist and knee injuries since the 2022 U.S. Open quarterfinals.
Kyrgios is also entered in the Australian Open beginning Jan. 12. It would be his first Grand Slam singles tournament in more than two years.
Kyrgios, who won the Brisbane International in 2018, will partner Novak Djokovic in doubles in Brisbane. Djokovic beat Kyrgios in the 2022 Wimbledon singles final.
Djokovic is the No. 1-seeded player at the Brisbane International and will play Australia’s Rinky Hijikata in the opening round following the singles draw held Saturday.
Kyrgios and Djokovic are in the top half of the singles draw and are not slated to play each other until the semifinals should they both win through.
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The Associated Press
