Nick Kyrgios tests positive for cocaine at ATP event: ‘A huge mistake’

2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios has tested positive for cocaine at an ATP Tour event and has been provisionally suspended.

Kyrgios, 31, provided a sample at June’s Mallorca Championships, which was confirmed to contain a metabolite of cocaine July 17 after testing.

The suspension has been in place since August 4, and Kyrgios, 31, has not appealed it, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said Wednesday.

He lost his opening match at the Mallorca Championships to countryman Adam Walton in straight sets.

In a statement Wednesday, Kyrgios said that he “made a huge mistake and I take full responsibility for it.

“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.”

Other tennis stars have tested positive for cocaine in recent history. Britain’s Dan Evans, who retired from tennis earlier this summer, was banned for a year after testing positive in 2017. In 2009, France’s Richard Gasquet, a former world No. 7, tested positive and was provisionally banned for 12 months, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) accepted his defense that he had been contaminated after kissing a woman in a nightclub.

The duration of Kyrgios’ ban will depend in part on whether he is found to have deliberately taken the drug, and in part on whether the incident happened before the tournament started.

The Australian has played just four matches in 2026, as he navigates a late career defined by persistent and serious injuries. Kyrgios underwent a full wrist reconstruction in September 2023, after suffering a full rupture of a key ligament that stabilizes the joint, and has struggled to generate any kind of momentum since. He did not play his home Grand Slam in 2026, after losing in the first round the previous year while playing through abdominal discomfort.

“Seeing the fans line up for four, five hours, just the amount of people that were there supporting me, it was hard to throw the towel in,” he said in a news conference at the time.

In his statement, Kyrgios said: “I’m not going to make excuses, but I do want to give some context about where I’ve been. The last couple of years of injuries have taken a huge toll on me, both physically and mentally. 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.

“I’ve always said that I didn’t choose tennis — tennis chose me. But letting go of something that has been my whole life is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to face. At times I’ve felt helpless and alone.”

Kyrgios has spoken about how he has had to manage his mental health during his career. In an interview with the Sydney Telegraph in 2020 and an Instagram post in 2022, he discussed managing depression and the loneliness of tennis, stating in the latter that he had abused alcohol and drugs.

The best period of his career also came in 2022, when he reached the Wimbledon final, losing to Novak Djokovic, and the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. An almost unreadable, lightning-fast serve backed up by creative all-court tennis made Kyrgios both a formidable opponent and a compelling watch, and he remains one of a select group to have recorded a win over each of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Kyrgios’ on-court behavior was often combustible and his off-court behavior has drawn heavy criticism from some tennis fans. In 2023, he pleaded guilty to common assault of his then girlfriend Chiara Passari two years earlier, before the charge was dismissed in an Australian court.

He has also been criticized for his commentary about women in tennis. The following year, Kyrgios was admonished for writing “second serve” under a picture of himself and another ex: fellow ATP Tour star Jannik Sinner’s by-then girlfriend, the top-40 WTA player Anna Kalinskaya.

When Sinner and six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Świątek tested positive for clostebol and trimetazidine respectively, in cases which anti-doping authorities found to be caused by contamination, Kyrgios labeled the impact as “disgusting” for tennis.

In his statement Wednesday, Kyrgios said that he would be taking time away from social media and the public eye to work on himself.

“I’m sorry. I’ll do the work and come back better,” he said.