Nick Kyrgios claims ATP Tour is protecting Jannik Sinner following doping saga

Sinner twice tested positive for the banned substance clostebol in March last year, but he was allowed to continue playing and the news only became public in August when the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced that he had been cleared of any wrongdoing as he bore "no fault or negligence".

The ITA accepted the player's explanation that the substance entered his system after he was massaged by his physiotherapist, who had used a product that contained clostebol to treat an injury on his own hands.

With the Italian, who was No. 1 at the time, not receiving a ban for the transgression, several big-name players - Kyrgios being one of them - in the tennis community expressed their outrage as they felt there were double standards.

But Sinner did eventually receive a suspension after the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed against ITIA's decision and in February 2025 they settled with the player's lawyer, resulting a three-month ban.

But again Kyrgios expressed his outrage and in the latest The Unscripted Show podcast hosted by former NRL player Josh Mansour, the Australian Open up about his relationship with Sinner.

"I'm loved by a lot of the locker room and then there are people I can't stand. Like obviously me and Jannik Sinner now, it's pretty grim," the former world No. 13 said. "Obviously, after the whole doping scandal with him testing positive and all that type of stuff, yeah there are a couple of people I don't get along with at all.

"He's the number one player in the world [when he tested positive] and there's no doubt he's an incredible player and he's going to be carrying the sport for the next 10 to 15 years with [Carlos] Alcaraz.

"I mean obviously, they're protecting him to some degree. I mean the CEO and all of the important people in the ATP are all Italian. And like the whole story for me is bull****."

Kyrgios felt it was a slap in the face of players who are clean, but he does have one or two positive things to say about Sinner, who has dominated men's tennis along with Alcaraz the past two years.

The two stars have each won four Grand Slams since the start of 2024 while they have also topped the ATP Rankings.

Kyrgios added: "For me it hurt because I was like someone who has tested positive for that and then has just gotten off so easy, I was like f***, maybe I should have. Like what if I was to do that?

"I just hope he learns from it. When all is said and done, he'll be one of the best players to ever play.

"Like also I'll tell him to his face: I think he was good enough to do it without [possible doping]. Like if it was an accident, okay, but if it wasn't, I would say 'Bro, I don't think you need that.'

"I played against him and it was an incredibly close match and I was like 'This kid's going to be f**king unbelievable.' So I was like I think you're good enough to do it on your own merit."

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