Andy Roddick 'rolls his eyes' at Nick Kyrgios, Denis Shapovalov & others over their criticism of Jannik Sinner amid doping controversy
Andy Roddick recently lambasted Nick Kyrgios, Denis Shapovalov and other tennis stars who have criticized Jannik Sinner amid the Italian's doping controversy. While Roddick did not specifically name any of the players, his choice of words implied that he was referring to them. The former World No. 1 also took a jab at the critics' own work ethics.
Kyrgios and Shapovalov were at the forefront of the wave of criticism following the Italian's controversial doping revelation ahead of this year's US Open. While Kyrgios demanded a two-year ban for Sinner, the Canadian questioned if the rules were applied equally to all players, regardless of their ranking.
In Tuesday's episode of the "Served With Andy Roddick" podcast, former World No. 1 and 2003 US Open champion Andy Roddick was among those who refused to criticize Sinner. Instead, he emphasized the importance of judging the situation based on official reports and statements. Recently, Roddick made his stance clear, strongly rejecting those calling for Sinner to be given a lengthy ban.
"Before we get to the kind of the unfortunate things happening around doping, not doping, contaminated substances, and testing for billionths of grams and you know... players that are chirping about these champions that will be Hall of Famers, when they've never put in two good days of work together simultaneously in their lives, it's all just like I kind of roll my eyes at all of it. There's a serious issue," Roddick said. [1:54]
In August this year, there was a tense back-and-forth between Roddick and Kyrgios over Jannik Sinner's doping row.
Nick Kyrgios and Andy Roddick had clashed earlier in 2024 over their contrasting takes on Jannik Sinner's doping violation
Right from the beginning of the doping saga surrounding Jannik Sinner, Andy Roddick has stuck to the 'innocent until proven guilty' stance. The American voiced the same out loud on an earlier episode of his podcast, which came out in August.
"All this talk of sinister things and preferential treatment... you're a number on a bottle, you're allowed to appeal during the appeal process until you're guilty, so innocence until proven guilty is something we hear a lot. It didn't come out until yesterday and then became a complete firestorm," Roddick said.
Nick Kyrgios, infuriated at what Roddick had to say, lashed out at the former World No. 1 on X.
"Do you understand how quickly this stuff exits your system? Cream, gummies literally hours. Ridiculous statement," Kyrgios wrote.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is set to hear the World Anti-Doping Agency's appeal against the 'no fault or negligece' verdict initially delivered by an independent tribunal in Jannik Sinner's favor. However, the hearing won't be taking place before February 11, 2025.