In a recent podcast appearance, former doubles world No. 1 and reigning Olympic champion Sara Errani voiced her disappointment with Nick Kyrgios over his comments about Jannik Sinner. Errani, who has always admired Kyrgios for his on-court showmanship, expressed her disapproval of his recent remarks, which she described as “bad and unfortunate”.
Kyrgios has been a vocal critic of Sinner since the Italian player’s doping case came to light. Sinner, currently the ATP world No. 1, is awaiting the outcome of a World Anti-Doping Agency appeal after initially being cleared of any wrongdoing by the International Tennis Integrity Agency. Kyrgios has called for a more significant suspension for Sinner, which has drawn significant attention and criticism.
Errani, speaking on the Italian podcast Supernova, said, “I don’t know him personally. He has a very strong personality and I’ve always liked him. Watching him play is a show. Thinking about my character, I shouldn’t like him, but I like him. Lately, he’s made a few bad and unfortunate comments: in that case, I didn’t like him that much. I’m not just talking about what he said about Sinner. He made some rather strong statements. Then when you’re not around and you play less… he seemed self-centered and I didn’t like him that much.”
Errani, who herself faced a doping suspension in 2017, acknowledged the complexities of doping cases and emphasized the need for improved handling of such situations. She added, “The Sinner’s doping case? We talk about it among ourselves. We’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not easy, every case has its nuances and it’s not possible to generalize. You have to know how everything went, it’s difficult. You have to improve the timing because there are athletes who waited months and months; while others solved it in two or three days.”
Errani’s comments highlight the ongoing debate surrounding doping in tennis and the impact of public figures like Kyrgios on the discourse. As Kyrgios prepares to return to competition at the Brisbane International, all eyes will be on both his performance and his off-court behavior.
Jannik Sinner in 2024
WWWWWWWWWW Currently the world no.1, Jannik played his last match on the 24th of November when he overcame world no.40 Tallon Griekspoor 7-6(2) 6-2 in the Rubber 2 of the Davis Cup (draw).
At present, during this year Jannik owns a 73-6 match record. The Italian has won 8 titles in 2024 at the Australian Open, Rotterdam, Miami, Halle, Cincinnati, U.S. Open, Shanghai and the Nitto ATP Finals. The Italian reached the final in Beijing.
