Nick Kyrgios says the high-profile doping cases involving Grand Slam winners Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek are “disgusting” for tennis.
Italian men’s world number one Sinner still faces the threat of a possible suspension after he twice tested positive for an anabolic steroid in March.
Swiatek, also 23, served a one-month suspension after testing positive for a banned heart medication in August, when the Pole was women’s world number one.
“I just think that it’s been handled horrifically in our sport,” said Australian Kyrgios, 29.
“Two world number ones both getting done for doping is disgusting for our sport.
“It’s a horrible look.”
Kyrgios is preparing to make his return to competitive action at the Brisbane International, following an 18-month injury-enforced absence since contesting the Stuttgart Open in June 2023.
In that time, the sport’s leading players in both the men’s and women’s games have become involved in controversy over respective failed tests.
While the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) cleared Sinner of wrongdoing after he twice tested positive for clostebol, the case was taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) after the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) launched an appeal.
Swiatek accepted a one-month ban, which ended on 4 December, after the ITIA accepted her positive test for trimetazidine (TMZ) was caused by contamination of the regulated non-prescription medication melatonin.
The treatment of those two players has led to accusations of double standards, with two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep saying there were “completely different approaches” to those cases compared to her own.
However the ITIA strongly denies handling these cases any differently.
Kyrgios said: “The tennis integrity right now, and everyone knows it but no one wants to speak about it, is awful.
“It’s not okay. I know that people don’t like when I just speak out about things, be honest about things.”
In addition to making his singles return against Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Kyrgios is set to partner Novak Djokovic – chasing his 100th Tour-level title in Brisbane – in the men’s doubles competition.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he will “not give up” as he aims to turn around the champions’ recent form.
City, who have won six of the past seven Premier League titles, have won just one of their past 13 league games, losing nine.
It has put Guardiola under immense pressure, but he has vowed not to walk away or blame any of his players.
“I will try, I will keep going,” he said before City travel to Leicester on Sunday afternoon.
“I will not give up. I want to be here. I want to do it and, with the situation that we have, we have to do it.
“Of course I want it [to end the bad run], everyone wants it. I don’t want to disappoint my people in terms of the club, the fans, the people who love this club.
“I think all of us in our job want to do it well and please the people. That is undeniable, not a question mark.
“The biggest test is to come back again, but we have done that before.”
Guardiola said injuries are the primary reason for City’s poor form, with several key players missing recent games including the 1-1 home draw with Everton on Thursday.
Ballon d’Or-winning midfielder Rodri is out for the season with a knee injury, while Ruben Dias, John Stones, Ederson, Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish and Matheus Nunes also missed the Everton game.
“Sometimes you have injuries,” Guardiola said. “For how many years we were incredibly consistent but now, yes, we’re a little bit down and the main reason is having so many important players injured.
“But I saw the team spirit, how we trained this week, how focused they are, how they try to practise. We saw that against Everton but unfortunately we couldn’t get the result we wanted.”
