Tennis star Nick Kyrgios slammed two of his colleagues, Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek, who were suspended for doping-related violations during a press conference at the Brisbane International on Saturday.
Sinner was charged with failing a doping test after testing positive for an anabolic steroid in March, but the ITIA later determined that he was not to blame for the contamination, which occurred when his physiotherapist accidentally contaminated him with clostebol during treatment.
Swiatek, on the other hand, accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for trimetazidine in November. Both players were world number one in the men’s and women’s sides of the sport, respectively, at the time of their positive tests.
Kyrgios expressed his disgust with the situation, saying that two world number one players getting suspended for doping was “disgusting for our sport.” He went on to say that he would never consider using a banned substance, citing the temptation to speed up his recovery from an injury.
Kyrgios questioned why the officials did not reveal Sinner’s positive test earlier if he was going to be cleared anyway, saying that it gave the appearance that the Italian player was hiding something.
Kyrgios himself has been out of action since June 2023 due to knee issues, but he teamed with Novak Djokovic in the doubles tournament at the Brisbane International and will face Giovanni Perricard of France in the singles tournament.