Former world No.1 wades into Nick Kyrgios and Jannik Sinner feud over positive performance enhancing drug tests

Former tennis world No.1 Andy Roddick has taken aim at Nick Kyrgios after the Aussie firebrand blasted tennis officials for not banning Italian star Jannik Sinner after two positive drug tests.

Kyrgios publicly slammed a tribunal's decision to clear Jannik Sinner of doping violations after the world no.1 tested positive for banned substances twice. 

The International Tennis Integrity Authority reported that Sinner's positive tests occurred in March. 

Jannik Sinner's positive doping samples, first taken on March 10 and again eight days later, led to provisional suspensions, yet he continued competing after urgent appeals from his team. 

Despite maintaining his innocence, Sinner will forfeit $325,000 in prize money and 400 ranking points from Indian Wells, as the ITIA disqualified his results due to the trace amount of clostebol found in his system. 

The tribunal accepted Sinner's explanation that the anabolic agent clostebol entered his system accidentally through his physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi, who used a medicated spray on his own skin and then performed massages on Sinner. 

Naldi was unaware that the spray contained clostebol, a muscle-building steroid, and failed to use gloves during the massages. 

Kyrgios is not buying that explanation, though, and has repeatedly ripped into Sinner and the ITIA over the decision, saying he should be banned for two years.

'Ridiculous — whether it was accidental or planned,' Kyrgios wrote on social media platform X.

'You get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance … you should be gone for 2 years. Your performance was enhanced.'

His comments have polarised followers, with some agreeing with Kyrgios and others accusing him of sour grapes because Sinner is now dating his former partner Anna Kalinskaya.

Now former world No.1 Andy Roddick has also been targeted by Kyrgios, after publicly defending Sinner.

'You get tested at every slam so there's no chance he was not clean at the Australian Open if he tested as much as he did,' Roddick said on his podcast.

'The amount in his system is one billionth of a gram, or 58,000 times smaller than a grain of salt. Which is completely consistent with the explanation.' 

That prompted Kyrgios to comment, 'Do you understand how quickly this stuff exits your system? Cream, gummies literally hours. Ridiculous statement.'

An X user then replied to Kyrgios, 'How do you know? Experience? Lmao you are ridiculous bro - give it up.'

'Research. Dumb a**,' the Aussie fired back.

At the point Roddick couldn't help himself and decided to poke the bear.

'Dumba** is one word,' he posted. 

'Thanks for the heads up. Could you also explain what prohibited at all times means?' Kyrgios asked in return.

Former women's champion Chris Evert has also defended Sinner but said the Italian champion needed to look within his own team for better protection measures.

'I think tennis has done an accurate job,' the 18-time major winner said.

'My only question is the steroid clostebol, yes it was on the counter in Italy. You can buy it off the counter, so that's just like buying aspirin off the counter.

'Still these players have teams to really examine what is in these substances.

'And I would have thought, especially since the Maria Sharapova saga [she had her two-year doping ban reduced to 15 months following her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport], that teams would be more aware of what to look for in any substance that their players are taking.

'It's off the counter yet it still has a steroid, which is banned. You can't do that steroid and then it turns out to be a spray.