Jannik Sinner’s drugs-ban reprieve has sparked a backlash from several players on the tennis tour.
Nick Kyrgios and Liam Broady are among those who have hit out at the decision to clear world No1 Sinner of any wrongdoing after the Italian twice tested positive for a banned substance in March.
Sinner tested positive for low levels of a metabolite of clostebol, a steroid that can build muscle mass. A further sample taken eight days later also tested positive for low levels of the same metabolite.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) confirmed on Tuesday that a tribunal accepted that the two failed doping tests were the result of contamination from a massage given by his physiotherapist.
The ITIA said Sinner bore “no fault or negligence” and the 23-year-old, who won his maiden grand slam at the Australian Open in January, has escaped a ban of up to two years. Kyrgios branded the decision “ridiculous” and Broady said it was “not a good look”.
Kyrgios posted on social media: “Ridiculous — whether it was accidental or planned. You get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance… you should be gone for two years. Your performance was enhanced. Massage cream… Yeah nice.”
Broady posted: “Whether Sinner was doping or not, this is not right. Plenty of players go through the same thing and have to wait months or YEARS for their innocence to be declared. Not a good look.”
Sinner will be the top seed at the US Open, which begins on Monday.
