Nick Kyrgios ridiculed for Jannik Sinner Australian Open claim amid his "unnecessary" jibes over doping test row by former player

Nick Kyrgios' relentless criticism of Jannik Sinner amid the Italian's doping controversy has come under fire from former player Nicolas Mahut. The former doubles No. 1 opined that the Aussie's swipes at the reigning World No. 1 are "unnecessary". Mahut also assessed a potential matchup between Kyrgios and Sinner at the 2025 Australian Open.

In a recent interview with Eurosport, Nicolas Mahut stated that Jannik Sinner has remained respectful towards his peers despite facing criticism from several of them over his doping row. The veteran Frenchman called Nick Kyrgios out and suggested that the Aussie was deliberately trying to "inflame the situation".

"I don’t like these kind of statements. He has the right to have an opinion on Sinner's positive test, everyone is free to think what they want, but to inflame the situation like this… Sinner has never disrespected anyone, he is the world No. 1, so it's unnecessary," Mahut told Eurosport.

The Frenchman, a former World No. 37 in singles, also predicted that Jannik Sinner would comfortably dispatch Kyrgios if the two were to clash at the 2025 Australian Open.

"I think all things before the game are trickier for Sinner to do than the game itself. Kyrgios hasn't played for a long time and of course you can dream of the title at the Australian Open, but you also have to remain realistic. Even if the crowd gets excited, Sinner is going to win that with 6-3’s," Mahut added.

Kyrgios himself recently suggested that he would do anything to be able to come out on top against Sinner if the two happen to face each other at the 2025 Australian Open.

"Well, I thought about this and I've been thinking, I've been talking about it a little bit, like if I played him in Australian Open, like I would get every single person in the crowd to just like get on him. Like I would just turn it into an absolute riot. Like I would lose all respect, all respect would go out the window and I would just do anything to win," Kyrgios said during a recent episode of the Nothing Major podcast.

This is the take that sparked Mahut's reaction. Since Sinner's doping revelation back in August in the buildup to the US Open, Nick Kyrgios has voiced his frustrations on multiple occasions about what he feels is preferential treatment towards the Italian.

Nick Kyrgios urged for two-year ban on Jannik Sinner; clashed with Andy Roddick over differing takes on Italian's doping row

Nick Kyrgios (Source: Getty)

Nick Kyrgios labeled the initial punishment given to Jannik Sinner "ridiculous". The Italian successfully appealed a provisional suspension after failing two tests, both of which came positive for the prohibited substance Clostebol. His provisional suspension was lifted after he successfully proved his innocence with regards to his exposure to the substance.

The only significant price that Sinner had to pay was the docking of his ranking points and prize money that he earned at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) later intervened and appealed against the judgment to let the World No. 1 continue playing.

WADA's appeal is set to be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) next year. The exact date of the hearing though, is yet to be confirmed.