Casper Ruud recently addressed Jannik Sinner‘s three-month suspension after being misquoted in various publications.
In the world of tennis, players are frequently posed with unique questions, making it challenging to attribute quotes accurately. Unfortunately, this was demonstrated recently when Ruud’s comments were mistakenly linked to him instead of their actual source.
Ruud competed at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) in Guadalajara, where many players were asked about Sinner’s suspension.
His quotes circulated, primarily through the French publication Le Parisien, but it soon became clear that they were misattributed, belonging instead to Flavio Cobolli, Sinner’s fellow Italian.
Realizing the error, Ruud issued a statement clarifying that he had not made those comments.
“Hey guys! Just wanted to say that I never said this. 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.”
“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.”
As anticipated, Ruud was asked again about the situation at the 2025 Mexican Open in Acapulco. During a conversation with journalist Ben Rothenberg, he candidly shared his thoughts on Sinner’s doping case.
“Yeah. I think… I feel sorry for Jannik. He’s, in my view, not done anything intentionally. And, you know, it is not the first time it has happened—but it doesn’t happen often—that settlements happen in a potential doping sentence, which was probably surprising for a few people.”
“When you look at the [legal system], it’s not unusual that it happens when someone is about to go to trial. I mean, there’s many other cases where settlements happened just before a trial. So, my understanding, if I was in Jannik’s shoes, of course I would love to have the possibility to defend myself in an open trial, which I’m sure he was going for.”
“But when you go trial, there is—if I try to put myself in his shoes—I mean, if you go to trial, there’s always a risk that you might be found guilty, even if you aren’t guilty, if the juries or the judges see things in a different way. I mean, look at how many cases in the world someone has gone to jail when he wasn’t guilty, or she wasn’t guilty.”
Ruud expressed understanding of why both the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and Sinner found a three-month suspension reasonable while also showing support for the current ATP World No. 1 player.
“So, I mean, there’s always a risk that you might be found guilty even though you aren’t. So, a settlement of three months—or a suspension of three months—was something that both were happy to do. Still, I feel sorry for Jannik.”
“He will be out, he will miss 4 out of 9 Masters 1000s for something he didn’t intentionally do. So I hope he keeps his head high. Me personally, I’m always rooting for him. I think it’s a joy to watch him play, and I hope the three months go by quickly for him.”
“Yeah, it’s just sad for him, and tennis as a sport, when the World No. 1 goes through something like this. And I guess that’s kind of my thought about it at the moment.”
