‘Bad’ Nick Kyrgios comments criticised by former No 1 amid Jannik Sinner row
Nick Kyrgios has been accused of making “bad and unfortunate” comments by former doubles world No 1 and reigning Olympic champion Sara Errani.
Former world No 13 and 2022 Wimbledon singles runner-up Kyrgios will return to tennis at the Brisbane International this coming week.
The Australian played just one event across the past two seasons and has not played a tour-level event since June 2023, having struggled with multiple injury issues in recent years.
Anticipation has been building for the 29-year-old’s return but he has also made headlines off-court for a spate of controversial comments, often concerning current ATP world No 1 Jannik Sinner.
Sinner is currently waiting for the outcome of a World Anti-Doping Agency appeal into his doping case, having initially been found of “no fault” by the International Tennis Integrity Agency.
Kyrgios has been among the Italian’s most vocal critics since news of the violation was revealed in August, calling for a more significant suspension.
He has also been a vocal critic of Iga Swiatek since news of her doping sanction emerged.
Speaking on the podcast Supernova, Errani – a former French Open singles finalist and Career Grand Slam doubles winner – accused the Australian of seeming “self-centred” at points.
“I don’t know him [Kyrgios] personally,” said Errani.
“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-centred and I didn’t like him that much.”
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Errani is all too familiar with doping rules, having tested positive for Letrozole in February 2017, ultimately serving a 10-month suspension for her violation.
Asked about her opinion on her compatriot Sinner’s case, the 37-year-old claimed that the “timing” of how cases are handled should be improved in the future.
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 completed the Career Golden Slam this summer, triumphing alongside Jasmine Paolini at the Paris 2024 Olympics – having previously won five doubles titles alongside Roberta Vinci.
Errani and Paolini’s triumph was part of a stunning year for Italian tennis, which was largely anchored by Sinner.
The 23-year-old rose to world No 1 for the first time and lifted the Australian Open and US Open titles while winning eight tournaments in total.
Italy also triumphed at both the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup Finals, with Paolini finishing as the singles runner-up at the French Open and Wimbledon.
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