'Ridiculous' – Nick Kyrgios Demands Jannik Sinner Suspension ...

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - MARCH 29: Jannik Sinner of Italy shakes hands with Nick Kyrgios of ... [+] Australia after beating him in the fourth round of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 29, 2022 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by TPN/Getty Images)

Nick Kyrgios is calling the Jannik Sinner development “ridiculous” and demanded the world No. 1 be suspended “for 2 years” after he failed multiple drug tests.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) revealed Tuesday that an independent tribunal found the 23-year-old Italian “bears No Fault or Negligence for two Anti-Doping Rule Violations” related to two positive tests for the topical steroid clostebol this past March.

The world No. 1 will forfeit the $325,000 in prize money he won for reaching the semifinals at Indian Wells in March. He will also lose the 400 ranking points he earned, but he remains nearly 2,000 points ahead of No. 2 Novak Djokovic in the rankings.

Sinner said the positive tests were the result of multiple uses of a spray employed by a “support team member” to “treat a wound” suffered by the team member.

“Ridiculous — whether it was accidental or planned,” Tweeted Kyrgios, the former Wimbledon finalist who works as a tennis analyst for the BBC and has also done work for Tennis Channel.

“You get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance...you should be gone for 2 years. Your performance was enhanced. Massage cream.... Yeah Nice”

While Kyrgios mentions a “massage cream,” there is no mention of that in the Sinner ruling.

The ATP issued the following statement on Sinner:

“We are encouraged that no fault or negligence has been found on Jannik Sinner’s part. We would also like to acknowledge the robustness of the investigation process and independent evaluation of the facts under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP), which has allowed him to continue competing. This has been a challenging matter for Jannik and his team, and underscores the need for players and their entourages to take utmost care in the use of products or treatments. Integrity is paramount in our sport.”

Simona Halep returned in March from an 18-month absence from the tour due to a doping ban.

The former world No. 1 and two-time major champion tested positive for roxadustat, a banned blood-booster substance, at the 2022 US Open. She was originally given a four-year suspension, but it was reduced to nine months after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) accepted her claim that she was not completely at fault.

“She was suspended for 18 months and Sinner said it and he’s not suspended,” ESPN’s John McEnroe said Tuesday on a conference call.

“I don’t know how they make these decisions. From the players’ standpoint, you’d like it to be uniform. This is surprising news for all of us.”

Sinner is the top seed at the U.S. Open beginning Aug. 26 in New York. He is coming off winning the Cincinnati Open in straight sets over Frances Tiafoe on Monday.

Sinner is also set to play Thursday in a pickleball exhibition sponsored by Head that also features 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic and two-time major winner Barbora Krejcikova.

“I would recommend he get in front of cameras ASAP and get this behind him,” ESPN’s Patrick McEnroe said on air of Sinner.

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