Nick Kyrgios has been provisionally suspended from professional tennis after testing positive for cocaine at an ATP event in Mallorca, Spain, in June, the International Tennis Integrity Agency confirmed Wednesday.
Kyrgios, 31, confirmed the result on Instagram before the ITIA released its formal statement. He said he takes full responsibility for it and asked that it come from him first.
A WADA-accredited laboratory confirmed the presence of benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, in a sample he provided on June 22 during the ATP 250 event in Mallorca. The ITIA announced his provisional suspension after laboratory confirmation. Cocaine is banned under competition by the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme and classified as a substance of abuse by the World Anti-Doping Agency. If the substance was taken out of competition, Kyrgios may be eligible for a reduced sanction. He has not appealed the provisional suspension as of Wednesday.
Kyrgios’s statement
In a detailed Instagram message, he described the past two years of injuries as having taken a significant toll on him both physically and mentally, saying his body had not been able to do what his mind expected of it. He said coming to terms with nearing the end of his career had been harder than he had ever imagined and that there were times he felt helpless and alone.
He did not offer the circumstances as an excuse, saying explicitly that none of it excused what he did.
He apologized to fans, family, sponsors and people close to him, and singled out the young people who follow him as those he felt most disappointed to have let down. He described a 28-day withdrawal from social media and public life to focus on getting himself right, and asked for privacy during that period, particularly for his family.
He closed the message with a commitment to do the work and come back better.
Kyrgios and his career
Kyrgios has been one of the most watched and debated figures in professional tennis for more than a decade, combining extraordinary natural talent with a turbulent relationship with the demands of the sport. He reached a career high ranking of No. 13, won seven ATP singles titles, and was perhaps best known for his performances in Grand Slam events where his ability to compete with the best players was never in doubt when he was motivated and healthy.
His career has been significantly curtailed by injuries, including a wrist injury that kept him out for extended periods. He made a notable return at Wimbledon in 2022, reaching the final where he lost to Novak Djokovic. The 2026 comeback, which included the Mallorca event, was among his most recent attempts to return to consistent competition.
The substance and the process
The distinction between in-competition and out-of-competition use matters under WADA and tennis anti-doping rules. Cocaine is prohibited during competition but not automatically treated the same way during the out-of-competition period. If he can establish that the substance was consumed outside the competition window, the penalty structure allows for a reduced sanction compared to a performance-enhancing drug violation.
The ITIA provisional suspension means he cannot compete during the investigation and adjudication process. The timeline for resolution of his case was not immediately specified in Wednesday’s statement.
Kyrgios has been transparent in the past about mental health struggles and the difficulty of managing expectations and public scrutiny as a professional athlete. His statement describing the emotional weight of approaching the end of his career is consistent with things he has said publicly over several years.
