Tennis Player Nick Kyrgios Suspended After Positive Cocaine Test

Tennis player Nick Kyrgios has a checkered record on the tour as of late because of nagging injuries, but now he’s missing from the court because he failed a drug test after testing positive for cocaine.

Getting ahead of the story, Kyrgios took to an Instagram story to tell his fans first why his tennis career is on hiatus.

“I recently failed a drug test in Mallorca after testing positive for cocaine. I made a huge mistake and take full responsibility for it,” he begins the message. “I’m sorry to my fans, my family, my sponsors and everyone close to me.”

He adds that he’s especially “sorry to the kids who follow me. I know the example this sets and I’m deeply disappointed in myself.”

ESPN reports that the testing came when he tried to enter Spain’s Mallorca Championships this summer. He submitted the blood sample in June and the results returned in July. That’s when the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) handed down its provisional suspension after it “confirmed the presence of benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine.”

Rather than harping on the illegal drug use, he took fans into his mind and explained how heavy his injury-ridden career has weighed on him.

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

On top of injuries, the 31-year-old knows that tennis is a young men’s game, and he’s struggling to gracefully bow out when the time is right. 

“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,” he wrote. “I’ve always said 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.”

The suspension will give him a chance to sit with his decisions, but the “wake up call” also prompted him to go on a bit of a detox. 

“For the next 28 days, I’ll be stepping away from social media and public life while I focus on getting myself right,” he writes.

This isn’t a goodbye from Kyrgios. At the end of the letter, he promised: “I’ll do the work and come back better.”

The suspension has been in place since Aug. 4, and while it’s unclear how long he’s been sidelined, he’s “not allowed to play in, coach at, or attend any events” organized by any major tennis associations.

See social media’s reaction to Kyrgios testing positive for cocaine.