Aussie tennis star Nick Kyrgios has labelled tennis ‘cooked’ after women’s world No 2 Iga Swiatek was handed a one-month ban for doping.
And Kyrgios has also launched a fresh attack on rival Jannik Sinner who he has previously called a drug cheat.
Kyrgios, 29, took to social media platform X on Friday following the ruling from the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) on Swiatek.
He responded to a post from fellow tennis professional Benjamin Lock, who tweeted: ‘1 month ban. It’s not even April fools day. Don’t play with us like that.
‘Two number 1s in the world failing drug tests in the same year is wild.’
Kyrgios responded to Lock’s post by saying, ‘our sport is cooked.
Aussie tennis star Nick Kyrgios has labelled tennis ‘cooked’ after world No 2 Iga Swiatek was handed a one-month ban for doping (pictured, with girlfriend Costeen Hatzi)
Swiatek, the reigning French Open champion, tested positive for performance-enhancing drug trimetazidine in August and was provisionally suspended in September
He then doubled down later in the afternoon, with a second post attacking the doping process.
‘The excuse that we can all use is that we didn’t know. Simply didn’t know. Professionals at the highest level of sport can now just say “we didn’t know”,’ Kyrgios posted.
It also comes after Canberra-raised Kyrgios said in August it was ‘ridiculous’ Australian Open winner Jannik Sinner escaped a ban for failing two anti-doping tests.
‘Ridiculous – whether it was accidental or planned,’ Kyrgios posted on X.
‘You get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance… you should be gone for 2 years.
‘Your performance was enhanced. Massage cream…Yeah nice’.
In August, Kyrgios said it was ‘ridiculous’ Australian Open winner Jannik Sinner (pictured) escaped a ban after failing two anti-doping tests
An investigation found Sinner had a miniscule amount of clostebol in his system, equivalent to less than a billionth of a gram.
Swiatek, the reigning French Open champion, tested positive for performance-enhancing drug trimetazidine in August and was provisionally suspended in September.
She blamed ‘personal reasons’ for her absence from WTA tournaments at the time, and has since accepted a one-month ban for an anti-doping rule violation.
ATP tennis player Denis Shapovalov questioned this punishment on X, posting, ‘1 month ban eh’.
This led to a Jannik Sinner fan page to return serve at Shapovalov, posting, ‘One day someone will explain to Shapovalov what “No Significant Fault or Negligence” means especially in cases of contamination.’
This led Kyrgios to wade back in, asking the Sinner fan account, ‘What does prohibited at all times mean?’
‘Your presumption, considering how ignorant you are on the subject, is unbelievable. Study some law and then come back and comment,’ the fan page replied.
Kyrgios had not responded to that comment at the time of publication.
Having already served 22 days of the suspension, Swiatek will serve the remaining eight days immediately when there are no scheduled matches.
The ITIA accepted Swiatek’s explanation that her failed drugs test was caused by the contamination of the non-prescription medication melatonin, which she took for jet lag and sleep issues.
Subsequently, the ITIA said her level of fault was at the lowest end of the range for ‘no significant fault or negligence.’
Trimetazidine, also known as TMZ, is normally used as a heart medicine for its ability to enhance blood flow.