Novak Djokovic will play men’s doubles with Nick Kyrgios at the Brisbane International (Image: Getty)
says has ‘spoken well’ about ‘s doping case after the Aussie labelled the scandal ‘disgusting’ for tennis.
Sinner twice tested positive for a banned substance in March but the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), who only made the case public months later, accepted his explanation and he was ruled to not be at fault. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has since appealed that verdict, leaving the current world No. 1 in limbo.
Last month, women’s No. 1 accepted a one-month suspension after returning a positive test of her own. “Two world No. 1s both getting done for doping is disgusting for our sport,” said Kyrgios, who will play men’s doubles with Djokovic at the Brisbane International.
“It’s a horrible look. Tennis integrity right now, and everyone knows it, but no one wants to speak about it, it’s awful.”
Now, Djokovic has had his say. And while he refuses to point the finger of blame at Sinner, the 24-time Grand Slam champion is adamant that the saga should have been handled differently.
“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,” said Djokovic.
Jannik Sinner’s doping verdict has been appealed by WADA (Image: Getty)
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“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.
“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.”
Djokovic and Kyrgios, who have become good friends off the court in recent years, will get their men’s doubles campaign underway against Alexander Erler and Andreas Mies on Monday. Kyrgios has not played a competitive tennis match for more than 18 months due to serious injury issues.