Nick Kyrgios receives one-month suspension for positive cocaine test
Nick Kyrgios has served a one-month suspension after a cocaine test came back positive at the Mallorca Championships in June, the International Tennis Integrity Agency confirmed. The 31-year-old Australian, who reached the Wimbledon final in 2022, had been under provisional suspension since 4 August, reports BritPanorama.
Initially, Kyrgios faced a three-month ban under World Anti-Doping Agency regulations. However, the ITIA reduced the sanction after he agreed to participate in an approved treatment programme. His suspension is set to expire, provided he completes the programme in full.
His sample at the Spanish grass-court tournament tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine. All prize money and ranking points earned at the Mallorca event have been stripped. During interviews with ITIA investigators, Kyrgios explained that he had consumed the substance recreationally on a night out before competing at the Mallorca event.
The agency sought the opinion of an independent scientific expert based at a WADA-accredited laboratory, who determined that the concentration of cocaine detected in Kyrgios’s sample aligned with his account of social use outside of competition.
This distinction proved crucial; had authorities concluded that Kyrgios had taken cocaine during a match, he would have faced a potential ban of up to four years—an outcome that could have severely impacted his already precarious career.
Kyrgios issued a public apology last month when the failed test first emerged. “I have made a huge mistake and take full responsibility for it,” he wrote on Instagram. He addressed those closest to him, stating, “I’m sorry to my fans, my family, my sponsors and everyone close to me. Above all, I’m sorry to the kids who follow me. I know the example this sets and I’m deeply disappointed in myself.”
He also offered insight into his state of mind, discussing the physical and psychological burden of ongoing injuries. “My body hasn’t been able to do what my mind expects it to do, and coming to terms with being near the end of my career has been harder than I ever imagined,” he said.
There’s a certain irony in Kyrgios’s case, given his previous criticism of lenient sanctions provided to Jannik Sinner and Iga Świątek for their doping cases. He labelled their reduced penalties as “disgusting” for the sport. Notably, his punishment is lighter than that received by Britain’s Dan Evans, who was banned for a year in 2017 after a positive cocaine test. WADA has since revised its rules, considerably shortening penalties for recreational drug use.
Kyrgios’s playing career appears to be dwindling; he has managed just four matches this season and currently holds a world ranking of 918, with next year’s Australian Open speculated to potentially mark his farewell.
