‘Been played’: Kyrgios lashes Sinner after world No.1 rehires coach fired in doping saga
Nick Kyrgios has doubled down on his criticism of Jannik Sinner, after the Wimbledon champion announced that he had rehired his former fitness coach who was involved in the Italian star’s doping case.
Sinner recently parted ways with fitness coach Marco Panichi and physiotherapist Ulises Badio and re-appointed Umberto Ferrara, nearly a year after firing him following the investigation into the Italian’s positive tests for a banned substance.
Jannik Sinner kisses the famous trophy in Wimbledon.Credit: Getty Images
Kyrgios – who is a vocal critic of doping in tennis – lashed out at Sinner on social media platform X on Thursday morning.
“He got the same doc back,” he wrote on X with a series of potato emojis. “We have been played ladies and gentlemen.”
Sinner’s teams did not give specific reasons for why Ferrara was rehired, other than that “the decision has been made in alignment with Jannik’s management team as part of ongoing preparations for upcoming tournaments” and that he starts with “immediate effect”.
“Umberto has played an important role in Jannik’s development to date, and his return reflects a renewed focus on continuity and performance at the highest level,” they said in a statement on Wednesday.
Last year, the world No.1 tested positive twice for traces of a banned anabolic steroid, which he said had entered his system from a member of his support team through massages and sports therapy.
He was ruled by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) to bear “no fault or negligence”, but WADA appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. However, Sinner ended up accepting a three-month ban for an anti-doping rule violation that did not result in the Italian losing any titles or prizemoney.
Kyrgios has criticised Sinner numerous times on social media, previously declaring his three-month ban was a “sad day for tennis”.
“Obviously Sinner’s team have done everything in their power to just go ahead and take a 3-month ban, no titles lost, no prize money lost,” Kyrgios wrote.
“Guilty or not? Sad day for tennis. Fairness in tennis does not exist.”
The Australian has also lashed out at Polish player and six-time grand slam winner Iga Swiatek after she accepted a one-month ban for testing positive for trimetazidine (TMZ), a banned substance.
Kyrgios posted on X saying: “The excuse that we can all use is that we didn’t know. Simply didn’t know. Professionals at the highest level of sport can now just say ‘we didn’t know’.”
Sinner will play at Cincinnati Open next month as he prepares to defend his US Open title.
With AP
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