In response to World No. 1 Jannik Sinner’s ongoing doping investigation, Novak Djokovic has defended doubles partner Nick Kyrgios and called the situation “frustratin.”
Djokovic and Kyrgios are both currently in Brisbane for the Australian Open warm-up event, where they will be playing singles and doubles together for the first time.
Ahead of the tournament both players have been speaking to press before the 2025 season gets underway, with a lot of Kyrgios’ questions yesterday focussing on current doping situations in the sport.
Kyrgios has been very outspoken against Sinner in recent months, as well as WTA No.2 Iga Swiatek, both who were found to have low traces of prohibited substances during the 2024 season.
When speaking to media in Brisbane, Kyrgios described the cases as ‘disgusting for our sport’, “Two world No.1’s both getting done for doping is disgusting for our sport. It’s a horrible look. Tennis integrity right now, and everyone knows it but no one wants to speak about it, is awful.
“I would never even in my entire life ever try and dope in this sport, especially going through an injury like I went through. Obviously there are things out there that could speed up healing, help me get back to prime level, help my recovery. There’s so many things out there that are prohibited in our sport that I could have been doing to get me back quicker. That’s just not who I am. I’m always against that.”
The Australian added, “I [pay] my team hundreds and thousands of dollars to be the professionals they are, to make sure that doesn’t happen, so they [Sinner’s team] knew it happened. Why did they take five to six months to do anything about it? He kept his team for five months. That doesn’t make sense.”
On the grounds of contamination, the International Tennis Integrity Authority (ITIA) exonerated Sinner and Swiatek of any misconduct. Swiatek accepted a one-month punishment and was absent from three Asian swing competitions. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is contesting the ITIA’s ruling and is requesting a one- to two-year ban for Sinner, so his case is far from ended.
While Djokovic has suggested that Sinner does not seem the type to intentionally dope, the 24-time major winner has backed Kyrgios’ continually speaking about the situation.
“Nick has spoken very well about the whole Jannik doping case, and he’s right about the transparency and the inconsistency of the protocols and the comparisons between the various cases,” claimed Novak Djokovic.
“We have seen many players in the past, and also currently, who have been suspended for not even having undergone anti-doping tests and for not having communicated their whereabouts, and some lower-ranked players who have been waiting for their cases to be resolved for more than a year.”
The Serbian continued, “I don’t question whether the prohibited substance was taken intentionally [by Sinner] or not. I believe in clean sport, I believe that the player will do everything possible to play fair.
“I’ve known Jannik since he was very young, so he doesn’t seem like the type of person who would do something like that, but I felt really frustrated, like most other players, to see that we were kept in the dark for five months after he received that news. It’s not a good image for our sport.”
Tomorrow, Djokovic and Kyrgios will play doubles against Andreas Mies and Alexander Erler to begin their 2025 seasons. On Tuesday, they will begin their singles campaigns.
