Nick Kyrgios Launches Fresh Attack, Questions If ‘F*****g Diligent’ Jannik Sinner Was ‘Naive’ About Everything

Nick Kyrgios has often accused World No.1 Jannik Sinner of using banned steroid clostebol for performance enhancement.

Nick Kyrgios Launches Fresh Attack, Questions If ‘F*****g Diligent’ Jannik Sinner Was ‘Naive’ About Everything

Nick Kyrgios, Jannik Sinner (Image via X/We Are Tennis, Jannik Sinner HQ)

Jannik Sinner is back on tour and impressed the tennis world in his comeback tournament, the Italian Open, where he made it to the final. But he was not successful in crossing the final hurdle in the form of World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz, who ended his 26-match winning streak with a straight-set victory.

It was Sinner’s second tournament of the season following the Australian Open which he lifted by beating Alexander Zverev. After Melbourne, the 23-year-old was preparing for the Qatar Open when the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced that they had handed him a three-month ban.

He failed the drug test twice last year in March and when the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced his failed test, Nick Kyrgios never minced his words to criticize him as well as the anti-doping agencies. Banned anabolic steroid clostebol entered Sinner’s body during physiotherapy sessions but Kyrgios still doesn’t believe this explanation.

He has time and again accused him of wilfully taking the steroid to enhance his performance. Recently during the Changeover Podcast, Kyrgios once again suggested that he holds Sinner responsible for the doping scandal. He said:

He pays this person (physiotherapist) hundreds and thousands of dollars and this physio is going to carry a scalpel with nothing around it. He cuts his finger, rubs massage cream on the cut…Bro, he pays hundreds of thousands of dollars to that person and puts all his trust in his research.

Sinner initially avoided the ban (though he was provisionally suspended twice) as ITIA believed in his explanation. The physiotherapist was Giacomo Naldi who had a cut on his finger and he used a contaminated spray to heal it. That spray was bought by Sinner’s former fitness trainer Umberto Ferrara from Italy. Sinner parted ways with both Naldi and Ferrara later. Kyrgios added:

You think he didn't know…you think that level of naivety is going to happen when you're No.1 player in the world? These guys are so f*****g diligent with everything and very professional…they don't even take a sip of f*****g alcohol! They take maximum care of themselves. Am I supposed to believe he knew nothing about the physio's situation?

Kyrgios has so far participated in four tournaments, registering just one win (in the first round of the Miami Open). He will next be participating at the French Open, after a long gap of almost 8 years.

Jannik Sinner was chasing his first Italian Open title

Jannik Sinner was hoping to become the first Italian man since Adriano Panatta in 1976 to win the Italian Masters 1000. He reached the final in his home tournament for the first time; and before this year, his best performance came in 2022 when he reached the quarterfinals and lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Jannik Sinner (4)
Jannik Sinner (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

The first set against Carlos Alcaraz was a tight one and Sinner had two set points. But he failed to convert them due to a shot that he hit into the net and next, he hit a backhand wide that helped Alcaraz level the points.

After Alcaraz won the tie-break, he carried that momentum into the second set, winning five games on the trot and eventually winning the set and the match to become a seven-time Masters 1000 champion and the first time on Italian soil.

Alcaraz took a 7-4 lead in the head-to-head record over Sinner; the win was also his fourth consecutive one. Last year, Sinner lost just six matches, half of his defeats came from the four-time Grand Slam champion.

Next, they will both be playing the French Open, which the Spaniard lifted last year by beating Sinner in the semifinals and World No.3 Alexander Zverev in the final. While Alcaraz is the winner of 10 clay-court trophies, Sinner is still searching for his second one.

Also read: Darren Cahill says Jannik Sinner performed beyond “expectations” despite finishing as runners-up at the Italian Open