Nick Kyrgios has reopened his war of words with Jannik Sinner and is eyeing up a blockbuster showdown at next month’s Australian Open.
Kyrgios has been an outspoken critic of Sinner since he failed two drug tests last March, as he suggested the world No 1 has been let off lightly after escaping a ban.
After the International Tennis Integrity Agency opted to clear Sinner at the start of last week, Kyrgios posted on X: “Ridiculous – whether it was accidental or planned.
“You get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance… you should be gone for 2 years. Your performance was enhanced. Massage cream…. Yeah nice”
He has also been outspoken in his criticism of Sinner during his media appearances and now he has stepped by that attack as he was a guest on the Nothing Major podcast.
“Let’s be honest… I really want to go out there and I really want to play Sinner,” said Kyrgios.
“If I played him in the Australian Open, I’d get every person in the crowd to get on him. I would turn into an absolute riot. All respect would go out the window and I would just do anything to win.”
Kyrgios went on to insist his persistent attacks on Jannik Sinner and the doubts he has expressed over world No 1 Iga Swiatek were merely based on sporting concerns.
“I haven’t failed any drug tests. It’s nothing personal,” he continued.
“What would I have personal against Iga Swiatek? I’ve got nothing personal on Iga. It should be a level playing field for everyone.
“That’s what pisses me off. Because I know when I watch Roger (Federer) and (Novak) Djokovic, they are Gods in my eyes. These guys already have an advantage because they’re just gods.
“Then if they’re taking all these other performance-enhancing drugs, it just makes me angry. Because I know me personally, I’ve never done it. I won’t ever do it.
“I drink alcohol and I may not get a good night’s sleep. I’m already putting myself against the back of the wall. Then I gotta go out there and this guy is rubbing cream all over his body that gives him some crazy aura, then it’s not fair. That’s why I’m angry about it.”
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He went on to accuse Sinner of looking for sympathy after his failed drug test, as this unfiltered tennis star ripped into the Italian once again.
“Once you get caught you can’t act like the victim,” he added. “That’s what pisses me off even more about it.
“I’m like ‘hold on a second… you employ your team don’t you?’ Say we go out and have a party, how in our sport can someone get punished for twod years for having a night out versus someone who’s actually trying to enhance their performance?
“It’s not even a conversation of which one is worse in my opinion. Obviously they’re both bad.”
Kyrgios is expressing publicly what many tennis players feel about the Sinner case and if the Australian Open draw throws up a clash with defending champion Sinner, the eyes of the sporting world will fall on that battle.
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