- Italian went on to win the Grand Slam at Melbourne Park
Jannik Sinner has admitted the 2025 Australian Open was ‘difficult’ after the world number two entered the tournament under a doping cloud.
Last February – after Sinner won the Grand Slam at Melbourne Park – a case resolution followed with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) which resulted in a three-month suspension for the Italian.
The 24-year-old insisted the positive drug test resulted from a spray used by his masseuse – which was loudly questioned by Aussie tennis star Nick Kyrgios.
Remarkably, Sinner twice tested positive for the anabolic steroid Clostebol, but initially avoided a ban because the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) determined he was not at fault.
Then women’s world no.1 Iga Swiatek was also handed a one-month suspension for testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine.
‘Two world No.1s both getting done for doping is disgusting for our sport. It’s a horrible look,’ Kyrgios – who will be part of the AO media team at the ‘Happy Slam’ – said in December of 2024.
Jannik Sinner has admitted the 2025 Australian Open was ‘difficult’ after the world number two entered the tournament under a doping cloud (pictured, in the final against Alexander Zverev)
Last February – after Sinner won the Grand Slam at Melbourne Park (pictured) – a case resolution followed with WADA which resulted in a three-month suspension for the Italian
The 24-year-old insisted the positive drug test resulted from a spray used by his masseuse – which was loudly questioned by Aussie tennis star Nick Kyrgios (pictured), who later questioned the integrity of the sport
‘Tennis integrity right now (is awful), and everyone knows it, but no one wants to speak about it.’
And when Sinner won Wimbledon last year, Kyrgios posted an asterisk on social media, suggesting the Grand Slam triumph at the All England Club was tainted.
Speaking ahead of his title defence at Melbourne Park, Sinner admitted it was challenging to stay focused 12 months ago.
‘It was definitely a difficult situation, because in this moment last year I didn’t know exactly what is going to happen,’ he said.
‘So I tried to enjoy it (playing), but when you go out on the court you still have it in your head kind of. ‘It was difficult.’
Sinner also revealed last year he had considered quitting the sport during the tournament and claimed ‘players were looking at me differently’.
‘But it is what it is, right? After that, I think everything happens for a reason. It made me even stronger as a person,’ he said.
Kyrgios wasn’t the only star seething at Sinner’s three-month ban, with Serbian Novak Djokovic also questioning the outcome.
‘The majority of the players that I’ve talked to in the locker room, they are not happy with the way this whole process has been handled,’ Djokovic told Il Tennis Italiano.
‘Many players don’t feel that it’s fair. A majority of the players feel like there is favouritism happening.
‘It seems like, it appears that you can almost affect the outcome if you are a top player, (and) if you have access to the top lawyers.’
Sinner takes on Frenchman Hugo Gaston in his first-round match in Melbourne on January 19.
