Italy’s Sarra Errani has come out in defence of fellow
countryman
Jannik Sinner amidst severe criticism from Australia’s
Nick Kyrgios
regarding a
doping case. The 23-year-old is already regarded as the best player in men’s tennis in the singles category and has had a fabulous 2024 season, winning two out of four Grand Slams. He finished the season as the
number one player in the ATP rankings, with a lead of over 3000 rating
points.
However, despite achieving so much, Sinner remained in the
news for the wrong reasons as well. The reigning world number one tested positive
in two doping tests in March but narrowly managed to escape a ban after the International
Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted the player’s counsel’s response where
they claimed that the availability of the substance in the player’s sample was
because of receiving a cream to treat an injury.
That decision received widespread criticism from certain members of the tennis community, who demanded equal treatment for all players who were involved in such scandals. The most vocal among those people was Kyrgios. Italy’s
women’s tennis player Errani has been recently quoted in a report where she
defended Sinner amidst strong criticism from the former world number 13.
"I don't know him personally,” she said. “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-centered and I didn't like him that much. 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.”