Nick Kyrgios reveals what ‘p****s’ him off about Jannik Sinner
Nick Kyrgios has expressed his hope to play World No.1 Jannik Sinner next year, with the Australian claiming that ‘all respect would go out the window’.
Kyrgios has only played one match in the past two years, after struggling with knee, foot and wrist injuries, with the former and the latter requiring invasive surgeries.
The 29-year-old is now gearing up for a return to action at the start of the 2025 season, and has told the Nothing Major Podcast, hosted by recently retired American’s Jack Sock, John Isner, Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson, how much he wants to play Sinner.
“Let’s be honest, I just want to go out there and I really want to play Sinner,” said Kyrgios. “If I played him in the Australian Open, I’d get every person in the crowd to get on him. I would turn into an absolute riot. All respect would go out the window and I would just do anything to win.”
Kyrgios and Sinner have only played on one previous occasion, with the latter getting a straight sets victory in their match at the Miami Open two years ago.
Since it was announced that Sinner failed two anti-doping tests back in March, Kyrgios has been very outspoken against the Italian on social media.
When continuing to discuss the two-time major winner on the aforementioned podcast, Kyrgios explained what frustrates him so much about Sinner being able to continue playing after being cleared of any wrongdoing by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) on the grounds of contamination.
“Once you get caught, you can’t act like the victim. That’s what pisses me off even more about it,” explained the former Wimbledon finalist. “I’m like, ‘Hold on a second… you employ your team, don’t you?’
“Say we go out and have a party, how in our sport can someone get punished two years for having a night out versus someone who’s actually trying to enhance their performance? It’s not even a conversation of which one is worse in my opinion. Obviously they’re both bad.”
🗣️”Once you get caught, you can’t act like the victim!”@NickKyrgios and the boys discuss this year’s drug testing controversies ⤵️#NothingMajor pic.twitter.com/KS7WsmmJ19
— Nothing Major Podcast (@NothingMajorPod) December 14, 2024
Kyrgios will return to official competition at the Brisbane International, with his first potential opportunity to play Sinner at the Australian Open.
Inside the baseline…
Nick Kyrgios might like the idea of playing Jannik Sinner given his clear disdain for the Italian, but in reality he may not be so keen. Sinner only lost six matches throughout the entirety of 2024 and has been particularly dominant on hard courts, while Kyrgios has not played a hard court match since the Japan Open in October 2022. Sinner currently faces an appeal from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), so you have to accept that the right outcome will be made either way, and maybe Kyrgios should focus on himself rather than making unnecessary comments like this.
READ MORE: Jannik Sinner holds ‘responsibility’ for positive doping test claims WADA Director General
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