Nick Kyrgios trolls Jannik Sinner after World No. 60 complains about midnight doping test at Rio Open

Nick Kyrgios took another dig at Jannik Sinner after World No. 60 Alexandre Muller expressed his frustrations at being drug-tested at midnight after winning at the Rio Open. Muller had defeated Tomas Martin Etcheverry to advance to the quarterfinal of the event in Brazil.

On Thursday, February 20, Muller took on Etcheverry in the quarterfinals of the Rio Open during the night session. Just a night after Jason Tseng defeated Thiago Monteiro at close to 2:30 am, Frenchman Muller and Argentinian Etcheverry also played late into the night with the former triumphing 7-5, 7-6.

World No. 60 Muller, however, had to participate in a doping test after the match which led to him venting his frustration on X.

"Doping test when we finish at midnight .. come on .. @atptour," he wrote.

Currently, tennis and doping have been in the news a lot as World No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who failed two tests last year, settled with WADA in an out-of-court settlement and accepted a three-month ban. It has been cleared by WADA that the Italian did not intentionally dope and that it was a member of his team that inadvertently contaminated him.

Taking a dig at this, Nick Kyrgios, who has been outspoken about his displeasure with the authorities involved in Sinner's doping saga, wrote:

"Just say you ‘don’t know’ and that it was completely your teams fault if there are steroids in there 😂"

After testing positive, Sinner explained to the authorities that his trainer was treating a cut on his own finger with a cream that consisted of the banned substance, clostebol. Upon receiving a massage from the trainer, the World No. 1 got contaminated and tested positive in March 2024.

The details of the failed tests were made public in August and Nick Kyrgios has been against the handling of the situation since. The Aussie had also reacted to the news of Sinner settling with WADA.

---

"Sad day for tennis" - Nick Kyrgios reacts to Jannik Sinner's three-month ban

Nick Kyrgios at the 2025 Australian Open - Source: Getty

The ITIA had cleared Jannik Sinner of any wrongdoing in their verdict after investigating his failed doping tests. The WADA, however, was unconvinced. They appealed the ITIA's verdict and sought a two-year ban. The case was set to be heard by CAS in April 2025 but the Italian's three-month ban settlement was announced in February. Reacting to the news, Nick Kyrgios wrote on X:

"So wada come out and say it would be a 1-2 year ban. Obviously sinners team have done everything in their power to just go ahead and take a 3 month ban, no titles lost, no prize money lost. Guilty or not? Sad day for tennis. Fairness in tennis does not exist."

Sinner's acceptance of a three-month ban has divided the tennis world. Many players and fans like Novak Djokovic believe 'favoritism' has played a role in the case while Carlos Alcaraz, Boris Becker, and Martina Navratilova have defended the Italian.

His suspension will end on May 4, 2025. Although he will miss out on 12 ATP Tour-level events, he will be eligible to play at his home Masters 1000 event, the Italian Open.