Nick Kyrgios Accepts One-Month Ban for Cocaine Use

Nick Kyrgios has accepted a one‑month ban after testing positive for cocaine and has entered a treatment program, drawing a stark new line in one of tennis’s most turbulent careers.

The 2022 Wimbledon finalist, provisionally suspended since August 4, is eligible to return to competition from Friday after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) confirmed his sanction. He had been staring at anything from a baseline three-month suspension to as long as four years.

The failed test dates back to an ATP 250 event in Mallorca, where Kyrgios lost in the first round to fellow Australian Adam Walton and collected 6,570 Euros in prize money. That money is gone now, forfeited along with another slice of a career that has rarely followed a straight path.

During an interview with ITIA investigators, Kyrgios said he had used cocaine socially on a night out in the days before the tournament. The ITIA then sought the view of an independent scientific expert at a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratory, who concluded his account aligned with the level of cocaine detected in his sample.

That detail mattered. It allowed the ITIA to classify the use as out-of-competition. Under WADA rules, that type of breach carries a default three-month suspension, which can be cut to one month if the player agrees to an approved treatment program.

Kyrgios took that route. He did not appeal the provisional suspension, accepted the ban, and committed to treatment. The ITIA confirmed the positive test was for benzoylecgonine, a cocaine metabolite, with the result verified by a WADA laboratory on July 17. The 31-year-old was barred from playing, coaching or even attending any tournaments sanctioned by the men’s and women’s tours, as well as national-level events in Australia.

The Australian, whose ranking once climbed to world No.13, went public with the failed test on Instagram last month. He called it a “huge mistake” and said he took “full responsibility,” apologising to fans, family, sponsors and “above all” to the children who follow him.

The post pulled back the curtain on a player already known for volatility but now confronting something more serious than broken racquets or code violations. Kyrgios wrote that a string of knee and wrist injuries had ravaged both his body and his mindset, leaving him struggling to accept that his time as a singles force is close to the end.

“My body hasn’t been able to do what my mind expects it to do,” he admitted, describing the toll of recent years and the difficulty of letting go of a sport he says he never truly chose, but which “chose” him. He spoke of feeling helpless and alone as he tried to come to terms with that reality.

Then he cut through the self-reflection with a blunt admission: none of that excuses what he did.

The ITIA’s decision and his own words now sit against a stark backdrop. Kyrgios has played only four official singles matches on the ATP Tour this year. His last appearance at the highest level came in men’s doubles at Wimbledon on July 2, when he and Alexander Bublik went out in the first round in London.

Kyrgios has called the positive test a “wake up call” and said he will step away from social media and public life for 28 days while he focuses on “getting myself right,” asking for privacy for himself and, pointedly, for his family.

He insists he will “do the work and come back better.” What that comeback looks like — and how much of the old fire remains once the ban ends — is now the defining question of the closing chapters of his career.