Casper Ruud has clarified his stance on Jannik Sinner after the world number one received a three month ban from tennis.
Sinner will be absent until the Italian Open, after accepting a suspension from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) until May 4.
This has created a lot of opinions from both current and former players, with Martina Navratilova unhappy with Sinner’s outcome.
On the other hand, Nick Kyrgios has been very critical of Sinner since it was first announced that he tested positive for the banned substance clostebol last year.
However, others have been less personal against the Italian and more critical of how WADA handled Sinner’s case.
Casper Ruud responds to false quotes about Jannik Sinner
Ruud was competing away from the ATP Tour last week and instead at a UTS event, which Kyrgios withdrew from, in Guadalajara.
During his time in the Mexican city, it was reported by Le Parisien that Ruud had supported Sinner following his ban.
The French newspaper reported Ruud to have said, “I know Jannik very well. I’m with him. I think he’s a good guy. Of course, after this, he will still be the best player in the world.”
However, Ruud has now clarified that these quotes did not come from him and instead called it ‘very bad and untrustworthy journalism’ in a defiant post on X (formerly known as Twitter).
“Hey guys! Just wanted to say that I never said this,” said Ruud. “I was asked about the case last week, and simply said I didn’t have any comments as I hadn’t read the full statement at that point. Very bad and untrustworthy journalism. However I do think Jannik is a good guy.”
Casper Ruud says whether he will comment on Jannik Sinner’s ban
Ruud lost to Denis Shapovalov in the Dallas Open final, and will now return to ATP Tour action in Acapulco.
Last year, Ruud reached the final at the Mexican Open before losing to Alex de Minaur in straight sets.
Two-time defending champion De Minaur will not be coming back to Acapulco this year, but Ruud will return as the third seed.
While he did not deliver his verdict on Sinner’s ban in this social media post, Ruud suggested that he would be open to questions in Acapulco when following up on his original message.
Ruud added, “I’m sure I will be asked again at the upcoming media day in Acapulco this coming weekend, so any other statements you might read from me is hopefully correct then.”
The Mexican Open gets underway on Monday February 24, with Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, Ruud and Tommy Paul as the top four seeds.
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