Kyrgios Cleared to Return: One-Month Ban Already Served
Nick Kyrgios can return to the court. The International Tennis Integrity Agency accepted that his cocaine use occurred out of competition and closed the case with a one-month ban, already served: the provisional suspension began on August 4, 2026 and ended on September 3.
The sample dates back to June 22, at the ATP 250 in Mallorca, where the Australian had lost in the first round. The lab found benzoylecgonine, a cocaine metabolite. Kyrgios told ITIA investigators he had used it recreationally during a night out in the days before the tournament, and an independent scientific expert judged that account consistent with the levels detected in the sample.
WADA rules set a three-month ban for substances of abuse used out of competition, reducible to one month if the player agrees to an approved treatment program. Kyrgios agreed. He forfeits the EUR 6,570 in prize money from Mallorca: there were no ranking points to strip, since a first-round exit at an ATP 250 earns none. Had the positive test been classified as in-competition, the ban could have reached four years.
"I made a huge mistake and I take full responsibility for it,"
the 31-year-old said in his statement.
"I apologize to my fans, my family, my sponsors and everyone close to me. Most of all, I'm sorry for the kids who look up to me."
He said he felt "helpless and alone" after a couple of years of injuries that wore him down physically and mentally, adding that this doesn't excuse anything, and announced 28 days away from social media.
Over the past two years Kyrgios had been among the harshest critics of how tennis handles anti-doping cases, from the Sinner and Swiatek cases to the eighteen months handed to fellow Australian Max Purcell. Now he's the one on the other side of the table, and he came out of it with the minimum sanction the code allows.
