Nick Kyrgios is free to play tennis again. The 31-year-old Australian became eligible to return to competition on Friday after accepting a one-month suspension from the International Tennis Integrity Agency for testing positive for cocaine, a ban that expired on 3 September and closes a case that began with a urine sample collected at an ATP 250 event in Mallorca on 22 June.
The sample contained benzoylecgonine, the primary metabolite of cocaine. Kyrgios did not contest the finding. He forfeits the €6,570 he earned in Mallorca along with the ranking points, and he has committed to an ITIA-approved treatment programme — the condition that cut his sanction from three months to one.
A night in Magaluf, a first-round exit two days later
The ITIA accepted Kyrgios’s account that he used cocaine socially at a nightclub in Magaluf in the early hours of 20 June, outside the competition window. An independent expert from a WADA-accredited laboratory reviewed the concentration levels detected in his sample and confirmed the explanation was consistent with the science. That distinction — in-competition versus out-of-competition — is the difference between a career-ending sanction and a month on the sidelines.
Two days after the night out, Kyrgios lost his first-round match in straight sets to compatriot Adam Walton. He was provisionally suspended on 4 August and did not appeal. On 19 August he disclosed the result himself on social media.
- 20 June: cocaine used at a nightclub in Magaluf, Mallorca
- 22 June: sample collected at the Mallorca Championships; first-round loss to Adam Walton
- 4 August: provisional suspension imposed by the ITIA; not appealed
- 19 August: Kyrgios discloses the positive test publicly
- 28 August: enters ITIA-approved treatment programme
- 3 September: one-month ban expires
“I recently failed a drug test in Mallorca after testing positive for cocaine,” Kyrgios wrote. “I made a huge mistake and I take full responsibility for it.” He also stepped away from social media for 28 days, describing the wider context as a reckoning with the end of his playing career: “Letting go of something that has been my whole life is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to face.”
Why one month and not one year
The outcome looks lenient next to the most obvious precedent. Dan Evans tested positive for cocaine at the 2017 Barcelona Open and served a year. The gap is not inconsistency; it is a rewritten rulebook. The 2021 World Anti-Doping Code created a separate category for “substances of abuse” — cocaine, heroin, MDMA and THC — recognising that recreational use away from competition is not performance enhancement. Where an athlete can establish the use was out-of-competition and unrelated to sport, the sanction starts at three months and drops to one if they complete an approved treatment programme.
Kyrgios met both tests. Evans, sanctioned under the old framework, had no such route available. Richard Gasquet’s 2009 case, in which the Court of Arbitration for Sport accepted contamination from a kiss in a nightclub, required a full legal battle to reach a comparable place.
There is an awkward footnote. Kyrgios spent much of 2024 and 2025 as tennis’s loudest critic of anti-doping leniency, calling the resolutions of the Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek contamination cases “disgusting for our sport” and repeatedly arguing that the sport’s biggest names received softer treatment than a lesser-ranked player would. He now returns having served 30 days.
A comeback that starts at No. 918
What he returns to is the harder question. Kyrgios is ranked outside the world’s top 900 and has played four singles matches all year. A wrist problem that forced a mid-match retirement at Indian Wells in 2025 has left him managing a body that will not cooperate — “my body hasn’t been able to do what my mind expects it to do,” as he put it. His most recent appearance was a first-round doubles loss at Wimbledon alongside Alexander Bublik, after which he suggested it was probably his last visit to the All England Club.
That is four years on from the fortnight that defined him: the 2022 Wimbledon final, lost in four sets to Novak Djokovic, six months after winning the Australian Open doubles title with Thanasi Kokkinakis. Seven ATP singles titles sit on his record, none since 2022.
Eligibility is not the same as a schedule. With no ranking to speak of, any competitive return runs through wild cards or qualifying, and the Australian summer — where his drawing power still guarantees an invitation — is four months away. The ITIA case is closed. Whether Kyrgios plays again, and in what form, remains his to decide.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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