Nick Kyrgios wants Jannik Sinner to be banned from tennis for two years after a pair of failed drug tests. However, it was announced on Tuesday that the current World No. 1 will not be punished at all.
The controversial Aussie star thinks he only escaped significant penalty because his status within the sport is not on par with some of the other, bigger names.
Sinner tested positive for clostebol in his urine during the Indiana Wells tournament in March. It was later disclosed that he tested positive for a second time in just eight days in an out-of-competition sample.
Clostebol is an anabolic steroid on the banned substance list.
Even though Sinner tested positive, an independent commission determined the amount of banned substance to be less than a billionth of a gram. He and his camp blamed the trace level of clostebol on an Italian over-the-counter spray to treat open wounds. The International Tennis Integrity Agency also determined that it entered his system through a massage from his physiotherapist.
[The contamination stemmed] from a support team member, who had been applying an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol to their own skin to treat a small wound.
— International Tennis Integrity Agency
It was ruled that Sinner’s support team member passed the anabolic agent transdermally through “daily massages and sports therapy.” Clostebol accidentally entered the player’s system, which resulted in the positive test.
To put it more simply, the ITIA announced that Sinner’s trainer had clostebol on his hands and transmitted the anabolic steroid to Sinner by rubbing him down without gloves. Kyrgios doesn’t buy it.
And even if the story is true, he doesn’t care. Kyrgios wants Sinner to be suspended for 730 days.
Ridiculous – whether it was accidental or planned. You get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance… you should be gone for 2 years. Your performance was enhanced. Massage cream…. Yeah nice 🙄
— @NickKyrgios on X
Even though Sinner will escape severe punishment, he was forced to relinquish the $325,000 and 400 tour points he earned at the tournament in Indian Wells. Kyrgios wonders why.
If Sinner is as innocent as the ITIA says, shouldn’t he be allowed to keep his winnings? Or, if Sinner is guilty enough to have his prize money revoked, shouldn’t he be punished further? Fair point!
The most entertaining outcome from this online beef would be an on-court matchup between Nick Kyrgios and Jannik Sinner. In the meantime, it will be curious to see how tennis fans in New York City react to this Sinner news at the U.S. Open!