Now that he’s made a hasty first-round exit from the men’s singles draw at the Australian Open, tennis influencer Nick Kyrgios can return to his full-time job of destroying the credibility of world No.1 Jannik Sinner.
You sensed Kyrgios wasn’t going to have the best of nights against Great Britain’s Jacob Fearnley when, in the first set, he rubbed his tummy and shouted at his box, “I shouldn’t be f..king out here.”
Kyrgios has for the past six months incoherently argued the same of Sinner, who tested positive twice at Indian Wells in March to the tiniest of traces of the banned anabolic steroid Clostebol.
On podcasts and social media, in commentary boxes and press conferences, he’s accused the two-time grand slam winner of “cheating the process”; called his actions “disgusting”, “suss”, “shady” and “disrespectful”; and made the sweeping statement that tennis is “cooked”. You tell ’em, bro.
My favourite Kyrgios remarks about doping came on the Nothing Major podcast in December when he was asked how he felt being the “villain” of international tennis.
“I haven’t failed any drug tests!” Kyrgios declared. “It’s nothing personal. It should be a level playing field for everyone.
“When I watch Roger [Federer] and [Novak] Djokovic, they’re gods in my eyes. When it’s one of us vers (sic) one of them … there’s a lot of fans out there who want us to do well because we’re relatable. You see us at a bar, having a drink, we’re human. These guys already have an advantage because they’re gods. Then [these other guys are] taking all these other performance-enhancing drugs. For me, it makes me angry. Me, personally, I’ve never done it, and I won’t ever do it, and I know I drink alcohol and may not get a good night’s sleep and I’m already putting myself against the back of the wall and then this guy’s out there rubbing cream all over his body that gives him some crazy aura and that’s not fair. That’s why I’m angry about it. Once you get caught, you can’t act like the victim. That’s what pisses me off even more.”
Well, that clears that up.
Kyrgios needs to put up or shut up about doping in international tennis. He needs to put up something more substantial than linking the positive results of Sinner and world No.2 Iga Swiatek (who in December accepted a one-month ban after a positive test for trimetazidine that was in her sleeping meds) and telling us the sport he’s treated like rubbish for most of his career is “cooked”.
Positive tests never enhance a sport’s reputation, but the selective outrage when they occur is gobsmacking.
When Australian swimmer Shayna Jack was rubbed out for two years after small traces of ligandrol were found in her system, it was considered an appalling injustice.
Last month, two-time grand slam doubles champion Max Purcell was provisionally suspended for intravenously taking in vitamins exceeding the 100ml limit WADA allows. His partner, Jordan Thompson, slammed it as a “joke”.
I tend to agree on both counts, but anybody even vaguely familiar with Sinner’s case must understand he wasn’t lathering himself in an aura-enhancing steroid cream as Kyrgios claims.
At least Sinner had a plausible excuse for the gear being in his system: his physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi, had an open cut on his finger that he’d treated with a medical spray containing Clostebol. He massaged Sinner, who suffers from eczema.
Sinner’s trainer, Umberto Ferrara, had provided the spray to Naldi. Neither checked what was in it – despite Sinner asking if they had.
It’s easier to cock a cynical eyebrow about these matters than try to understand them. A cursory glance of the independent tribunal’s 33-page judgment from August 19, which is available on the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s website, dispels the many myths of this story.
His support staff, who he has sacked, have clearly failed him.
Lost, too, in the maelstrom of Kyrgios’s furious social media posts is the reason for the World Anti-Doping Agency’s decision to appeal the Sinner case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
WADA doesn’t believe Sinner knowingly doped. It does, however, argue against the ITIA’s decision of “no fault or negligence” and wants a one- to two-year ban as per its own code.
As it stands, the only punishment he has received is the loss of prizemoney and ranking points from Indian Wells and the wrath of anti-doping crusader Nick Kyrgios.
Few doping cases are the same. Sports might be compliant to the WADA code but how much they disclose is up to the individual governing bodies.
Kyrgios claims Sinner “cheated the process”. Sinner followed it to the letter, successfully appealing within 10 days of being told of his provisional suspension. Under ITIA rules, if the appeal is successful the matter isn’t made public until an independent tribunal makes a determination.
Kyrgios also claims it’s “shady” the CAS hearing won’t be made public. CAS hearings are only made public when all parties agree to it, although they rarely are. The most notable public hearing was that of Chinese swimmer Sun Yang in 2019, which was live-streamed.
When Kyrgios suggests an in-camera hearing implies guilt, he sounds every bit like the controversial, click-hungry tennis influencer he was clearly born to be.
He’s tossed out so much misinformation about Sinner and others in recent months that the ITIA has taken the unprecedented step of handing out media information packs to reporters at Melbourne Park. Facts, bro.
If he wanted to turn the Australian public against Sinner at this tournament, it didn’t work.
Earlier on Monday, Sinner kicked off his Australian Open defence with a straightforward shutout of Chilean Nicolas Jarry. The crowd warmly greeted him. He meets Australian Tristan Schoolkate on Wednesday.
Kyrgios wants to play doubles but now he’s out of the singles draw he can work on a side-hustle he promised on the Nothing Major podcast.
“I haven’t told anyone this,” he said. “Me and [Australian comedian] Elliot Loney are going to re-enact some of the doping cases over the last 10 years. We’re going to do a parody on it. We’re going to have a professional film it.”
Can’t wait. Let’s hope he does some research first.
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