Nick Kyrgios’s own words are about to be read back to him.
For most of the past two years the 31-year-old had made himself the sport’s noisiest voice on anti-doping enforcement, hammering Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek and his fellow Australian Max Purcell after their respective cases. On Wednesday the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) confirmed that Kyrgios had failed a test of his own.
The ITIA release said the Australian’s sample from the ATP 250 event in Mallorca on 22 June had returned a positive result for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine. The finding was verified by a WADA-accredited laboratory on 17 July, and the provisional suspension took effect on 4 August.
“Cocaine is a stimulant and substance of abuse on the WADA Prohibited List and is banned in competition under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme,” the ITIA said.
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The order keeps Kyrgios out of the US Open, whose main draw begins in Flushing Meadows on 30 August. It would have been his first appearance at the New York major since 2022 after three consecutive withdrawals through injury.
‘Fairness in tennis does not exist’
The Australian had built the second half of his comeback on a running critique of how tennis handled positive tests. When the Sinner and Swiatek cases surfaced at the end of 2024, Kyrgios used a Brisbane International news conference to go after the sport.
“Two world No.1s both getting done for doping is disgusting for our sport. It’s a horrible look,” he said.
“Tennis integrity right now, and everyone knows it, but no one wants to speak about it, it’s awful.”
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In February 2025, after Sinner and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) settled on a three-month ban for the world No. 1, Kyrgios went further on X.
“So WADA come out and say it would be a 1-2 year ban. Obviously Sinner’s team have done everything in their power to just go ahead and take a 3 month ban, no titles lost, no prize money lost. Guilty or not? Sad day for tennis. Fairness in tennis does not exist.”
He was no gentler with his compatriots. When Purcell accepted an 18-month ban in April 2025 for exceeding intravenous infusion limits, Kyrgios publicly accused the ITIA of hypocrisy.
“So honest feelings about how ridiculous Purcell’s ban is? Vitamins? Can we justify this? Or can we just admit now that the whole system is cooked.”
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Beaten by Walton on the day of the sample
Kyrgios had entered Mallorca as part of a slow return from wrist and knee surgery. He lost to fellow Australian Adam Walton 6-3, 6-4 on 22 June, the same day his sample was taken, and did not play another singles match before the suspension. His only appearance at Wimbledon days later was in doubles alongside Alexander Bublik, a first-round loss on 2 July that he indicated could be his last match at the All England Club.
The ITIA has not set a hearing date. Cocaine sits on the WADA list as a “substance of abuse”, which can shorten sanctions where a player proves the use was out-of-competition and unrelated to sport. But the substance is banned in-competition, and the Mallorca sample was taken on match day. Kyrgios retains the right to appeal the provisional order.
His career-high ranking of world No. 13, set in October 2016, has long since gone. The comeback he had built around a return to New York has been suspended before it got there.
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