Casper Ruud calls out 'very bad' journalism after fake news about comments on Jannik Sinner doping ban surface

Casper Ruud clarified his recent remarks about Jannik Sinner attributed to the Norwegian in the aftermath of the Italian accepting a three-month ban in a controversial settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Ruud suggested that a certain publication misquoted him. The former ATP No. 2 also spoke on how he sees Sinner as a person.

On Wednesday, February 19, the Norwegian took to X (formerly Twitter) and shared a link (now-deleted). The link redirected to a tennis fan page on X and featured the following quotes about Sinner attributed to Ruud by Le Parisien:

"I know Jannik very well. I'm with him. I think he's a good guy. Of course, after this, he will still be the best player in the world." (translated from French)

However, Casper Ruud claimed via the post that he had, in fact, not made the remarks. He proceeded to criticize Le Parisien and acknowledged Jannik Sinner as "a nice guy".

"Hey guys! Just wanted to say that I never said this. I was asked about the case last week, and simply said I didn’t have any comments as I hadn’t read the full statement at that point. Very bad and untrustworthy journalism. However I do think Jannik is a good guy," Ruud wrote.

"I’m sure I will be asked again at the upcoming media day in Acapulco this coming weekend, so any other statements you might read from me is hopefully correct then," he added in a separate post.

The tennis fan page that had shared the link to the Le Parisien article also reached out to Ruud. The Norwegian insisted that his criticism was directed at the publication and not at the fan page.

"Sorry I should have said bad and untrustworthy journalism from Le Parisien because that’s where it started. My statement was never towards you guys. No need to apologize," Ruud wrote.

In the aftermath of World No. 1 Sinner's doping revelation last year, Ruud had weighed in with his thoughts on the controversial subject.

"Jannik Sinner managed to find an explanation within 15 days" - Casper Ruud after Italian's doping situation was made public

Casper Ruud at a 2025 Dallas Open press conference (Source: Getty)

The fact that Jannik Sinner had twice tested positive for the banned substance Clostebol was made public in the buildup to the 2024 US Open. It was also revealed at the time that the Italian was allowed to keep playing because he had successfully identified and communicated the source of the Clostebol contamination.

Later, Casper Ruud claimed that he had gone through the specifics of the case and did not have complaints regarding the ruling passed by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). The Norwegian opined that Jannik Sinner's ability to quickly prove where the contamination stemmed from helped the Italian greatly.

"If you have read the documents and understand the process in this type of case, then you understand that there is no discrimination here. What Jannik has done well, to defend himself, is that he managed to find an explanation within 15 days after testing positive. He understood quite quickly where it came from," Ruud told Norway's TV 2.

Jannik Sinner is expected to be back in action at the 2025 Italian Open. Meanwhile, Ruud is currently preparing for his Mexico Open campaign.

The Norwegian most recently competed at the Dallas Open, where he reached the final following wins over James Duckworth, Michael Mmoh, Yoshihito Nishioka and Jaume Munar. Here, he lost to Denis Shapovalov.