Kyrgios Gives Blunt Reaction To Sinner's Coach Winning Excellence Award
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Nick Kyrgios was incredulous after Jannik Sinner's coach, Darren Cahill, received a coaching honor from Tennis Australia.
Kyrgios is known for being one of the most opinionated players in tennis. His comments on social media or as a commentator or analyst at Grand Slams often divide fans.
An example of him causing controversy was his crass online remark about WTA star and Jannik Sinner's ex-girlfriend, Anna Kalinskaya. She used to date Kyrgios a few years ago.
Respected analyst and former player Andrea Petkovic slammed Kyrgios for self-sabotaging with misogynistic nonsense, and argues that such comments distract from how insightful he can be when discussing tennis.
A case of Kyrgios thinking clearly about the sport was when he gave five things he would change to improve tennis. Fans may not have agreed with every idea, but the Australian was undoubtedly creative and articulate.
An issue that Kyrgios has been particularly blunt about is the doping cases involving Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek. The 2022 Wimbledon runner-up favors a hardline approach against them and all those who test positive for banned substances.
Swiatek accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for the prohibited substance trimetazidine because further testing proved her explanation that melatonin, a legal product, was contaminated with trimetazidine.
Some are sympathetic to Swiatek because all she did was purchase a legal product and could not have expected the melatonin to be contaminated by the drug manufacturer. Andy Roddick believes she should not be considered a doper.
Sinner's case is more complicated. He tested positive for the banned substance clostebol at March's Indian Wells Open, but the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) cleared him of wrongdoing after accepting his explanation of how it happened.
The Italian told the ITIA that his physiotherapist at the time used a spray for a cut finger and then gave Sinner massages without gloves on. However, the physiotherapist did not know the spray contained tiny traces of clostebol, meaning it entered the 23-year-old's system.
Sinner's anxiety about the case was prolonged when the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. A ruling will be reached sometime in 2025, but not before February 11th.
Cahill, one of Sinner's coaches alongside Simone Vagnozzi, was not nominated for the ATP Coach of the Year despite his player's incredible 2024, which included maiden Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and US Open.
The well-known coach was not overlooked for Tennis Australia's Coaching Excellence Performance, though. Cahill officially received the honor in recognition of what he achieved with Sinner in 2024.
Kyrgios replied with scorn to Tennis Australia's post on X (formerly Twitter) about it, asking whether the move to choose Cahill for the honor was a joke.
" This is a joke right 😂 - have some class and integrity people."
It seems harsh to blame Cahill for what happened to Sinner since he is not in charge of his team's medical side, but the experienced coach was still a team member when the incident occurred.
