Nick Kyrgios has called on Jannik Sinner to be banned from tennis for two years after the men’s world No 1 tennis player tested positive for a banned substance twice in March.
Sinner was cleared of wrongdoing by an independent tribunal, days before the Italian 23-year-old was set to play at the US Open. The tribunal accepted the Australian Open champion’s explanation that the anabolic agent clostebol entered his system from a member of his support team through massages and sports therapy.
Sinner said his physio, Giacomo Naldi, applied an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol to his own skin to treat a small finger wound and then administered massages between 5-13 March without using gloves, according to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).
Naldi was unaware that the product he had used on his cut contained clostebol, Sinner said. Clostebol is a steroid that can be used to build muscle mass.
Sinner’s first positive sample was taken on 10 March, with a second eight days later. A provisional suspension was applied with each positive test but he was allowed to keep playing after his team filed urgent appeals. He lost ranking points and prize money earned at Indian Wells, but will not be banned from the sport.
Australian player Kyrgios – who last year avoided a criminal conviction after he admitted assaulting his ex-girlfriend – lambasted the Sinner ruling.
“Ridiculous – whether it was accidental or planned. You get tested twice with a banned substance … you should be gone for 2 years. Your performance was enhanced,” Kyrgios said on X.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) said it would review the decision and reserved the right to appeal. Sinner, who has always maintained his innocence, said the amount of clostebol found in his system was less than a billionth of a gram.
“I will now put this challenging and deeply unfortunate period behind me,” the 23-year-old said in a statement posted to social media.
The men’s ATP Tour said the saga “underscores the need for players and their entourages to take utmost care in the use of products or treatments.”
Sinner’s lawyer, Jamie Singer, added: “Anti-doping rules have to be very strict to be effective. Sadly the unfortunate consequence is that, occasionally, entirely innocent athletes get caught up in them.
“There is no question that Jannik is innocent in this case. The ITIA did not challenge that key principle. However, under strict liability rules Jannik is responsible for whatever is in his system, even when entirely unaware of it, as in this exceptional case.”
The US Open main draw begins on 26 August.
Additional reporting by Reuters