Nick Kyrgios says high-profile doping cases involving Grand Slam winners Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek are “disgusting” for tennis.
Italian men’s world number one sinner still faces the threat of possible suspension after he twice tested positive for anabolic steroids in March.
Swiatek, also 23, serving a one-month suspension after testing positive for a banned heart drug in August, when the Polish player was the women’s world number one.
“I just think this has been handled horribly in our sport,” said Kyrgios, 29, an Australian.
“Two world-ranked tennis players both being punished for doping is disgusting for our sport.
“It’s a terrible sight.”
Kyrgios is preparing to return to action at the Brisbane International, having been sidelined for 18 months through injury since competing at the Stuttgart Open in June 2023.
At the time, the sport’s leading players in both the men’s and women’s games were embroiled in controversy over their respective test failures.
Although the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) cleared Sinner of any wrongdoing after he twice tested positive for clostebol, the case was taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) after the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) appealed.
Swiatek received a one-month ban, which expired on December 4, after ITIA received a positive test result for trimetazidine (TMZ) caused by contamination of the regulated non-prescription drug melatonin.
The treatment of the two players has drawn accusations of double standards, with the two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep says there are “very different approaches” for these cases compared with the case itself.
However, ITIA strongly denies that it handles these cases in a different way.
Kyrgios said: “The integrity of tennis right now, and everyone knows it but no one wants to talk about it, is very bad.
“It’s okay. I know people don’t like it when I just talk about things, just be honest about things.”
As well as returning to action in singles against Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Kyrgios will partner Novak Djokovic – chasing his 100th Tour-level title in Brisbane – in the men’s doubles competition.
