Jannik Sinner will be opening his Australian Open 2025 campaign in Melbourne on Monday, against Chile’s Nicolas Jarry. But the World No. 1’s participation in the season-opening Grand Slam event has been shrouded with controversy due to a doping scandal. Last year, Sinner’s 2024 US Open title run was overshadowed by a doping incident.
It was revealed that he had tested positive twice for an anabolic agent in March, but then his defense was accepted by an independent tribunal that it was due to unintentional contamination. Fast forward to September, the WADA appealed the decision to CAS, which was accepted. The CAS verdict will be passed this year.
But Aussie star Nick Kyrgios is unhappy that the CAS trial will take place behind closed doors. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Kyrgios wrote, “Why behind closed doors? If you have done nothing wrong, then let there be transparency.”
Kyrgios has already attacked Sinner regarding his doping case during the Brisbane International and his concerns was also voiced by Novak Djokovic.
Meanwhile, doping expert Fritz Sorge, director of the Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research in Nuremberg, feels that the World No. 1 should be banned. “Sinner should be suspended because every athlete is responsible for what he puts into his body. If he wasn’t, the World Anti-Doping Agency would make itself ridiculous,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ITIA’s way of handling Sinner and Iga Swiatek’s doping cases also received criticism from tennis legend Boris Becker. Speaking on Eurosport, he said, “Yes, it is bad for tennis. A sensible solution must be found so that this does not happen again. If two of the best professionals in our sport are involved, then it is damaging. This undeniably tarnishes our image.”
Swiatek, on the other hand, served a one-month doping ban, which ended in December last year. She tested positive in an out-of-competition sample and the ITIA accepted her defense that it was due to unregulated medication melatonin, which was manufactured and sold in Poland.
