Nick Kyrgios has described the doping charges against Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek as ‘disgusting’ in a scathing press conference ahead of his return to the court.
The hot-headed Aussie will make his first tournament appearance in 18 months at the Brisbane International, where he will play singles as well as teaming up with Novak Djokovic for doubles.
Kyrgios has been a vocal critic of players charged with doping offences, believing it damages the integrity of tennis. He did not mince his words as he gave a damning review of the sport’s current state in a press conference on Saturday.
“Two world No 1s both getting done for doping is disgusting for our sport,” said Kyrgios. “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 to get me back quicker. That’s just not who I am. I’m always against that.”
Sinner tested positive for clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid, in March. An independent panel accepted his 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 to be handed a suspension of up to two years.
Swiatek, meanwhile, was handed a one-month ban after providing a sample which contained trimetazidine in an out-of-competition test in August.
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.”
Kyrgios will be hoping to make a winning return to the court when he begins his Brisbane Open campaign against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on Monday.
He has been placed in the same half of the draw as Djokovic, meaning they could meet each other in the semi-finals.