Boris Becker wouldn’t have been expecting such a blunt response from Nick Kyrgios when he weighed into a joke about the Australian on social media. The outspoken Kyrgios finally returned to Grand Slam action at the Australian Open last month, having been vociferous in the build-up to the tournament over the drugs scandal involving Jannik Sinner.
The Italian initially escaped a doping ban despite testing positive for clostebol last March, having successfully argued he had been unknowingly contaminated while receiving a physio massage.
That drew a furious response from Kyrgios, who regularly took aim at the world No.1 both in press conferences and on social media.
Sinner has since accepted a three-month ban after the World Anti Doping Agency appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and the brash Aussie was also left less than impressed with that development. And he made his feelings known in a rant on X.
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“So WADA come out and say it would be a one or two year ban,” he wrote. “Obviously Sinner’s team have done everything in their power to just go ahead and take a three month ban, no titles lost, no prize money lost. Guilty or not? Sad day for tennis. Fairness in tennis does not exist.”
On Saturday, the Swish Tennis account appeared to poke fun at his recent outbursts, posting a mocked up picture of Kyrgios looking elderly in a hotel bed. And they pretended to quote the 29-year-old, implying he had gone on too much about the saga.
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“2084: ‘Did I tell you about the time Jannik Sinner failed two doping tests?’” read the caption. “The whole system is rigged! Why won’t the establishment do anything? This is why I never won a big title!’”
Becker opted to reply to the post by saying “lol.” Kyrgios clearly took exception to the German finding it funny, and hit back with: “What’s up criminal?”
The brutal jibe appeared to refer to Becker being charged in 2022 with illegally failing to hand over assets and trophies with a value of £2.5 million to help repay his debts after bankruptcy. In April that year, he was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment for the offences.
He was released after serving just eight months of his sentence, and has since returned to punditry work. Kyrgios though, has also had his own legal troubles after being summoned in 2022 to appear in court, in Australia, to face a charge of common assault.
The allegation was made by former girlfriend Chiara Passara. Kyrgios pleaded guilty to the assault charge but was not convicted, as Magistrate Beth Campbell stated the case was “at the lower end of the scale of common assault.”
