LONDON
\nAustralian tennis star Nick Kyrgios said on Wednesday that he had made \u201ca huge mistake\u201d after testing positive for cocaine. The 31-year-old, who reached the final at Wimbledon in 2022, failed a doping test during an ATP event in Mallorca, Spain, on June 22.
\n\u201cOn 17 July 2026, a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory confirmed the presence of benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine,\u201d the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said. Kyrgios, whose undoubted talent has been overshadowed by a suspect temperament and injuries, wrote on Instagram that he took \u201cfull responsibility.\u201d
\n\u201cI made a huge mistake,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI\u2019m sorry to my fans, my family, my sponsors and everyone close to me. \u201cAbove all, I\u2019m sorry to the kids who follow me. \u201cI know the example this sets and I\u2019m deeply disappointed in myself.\u201d Boasting a big serve and booming ground strokes, Kyrgios has won seven singles titles on the ATP Tour and rose to a high of 13 in the world in 2016.
\nHis finest performance was on the grass at Wimbledon in 2022, when he reached the championship match, losing in four sets to Novak Djokovic. Despite his natural talents that is as good as it got, with a series of injuries taking their toll. He is now ranked 919 and has barely played in singles tennis in recent years.
\nIn January, he admitted he would never be the player that he once was.Kyrgios is one of the few players to have recorded tour-level wins over the \u201cBig Four\u201d of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. But the success on court came with huge problems off it, including severe injuries to his right elbow, left wrist, hip, knees, shoulders and collarbone.
\nHe has had numberous surgeries, the most serious a complete reconstruction of his right wrist in 2024.On Wednesday, he said that the injuries had taken \u201ca huge toll on me both physically and mentally.\u201d
\n\u201cNone of that excuses what I did,\u201d he said of his failed test. \u201cHowever the good news is that this has given me a wake-up call.\u201d
\nHe added: \u201cI\u2019m sorry, I\u2019ll do the work and come back better.\u201dThe ITIA said that the suspension had been in place since August 4. It said: \u201cWhile suspended Kyrgios is not allowed to play in, coach at, or attend any events organized or sanctioned by World Tennis, WTA, ATP, the Grand Slams, or any national association.\u201dz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios said on Wednesday that he had made \u201ca huge mistake\u201d after testing positive for cocaine. The 31-year-old, who reached the final at Wimbledon in 2022, failed a doping test during an ATP event in Mallorca, Spain, on June 22. \u201cOn 17 July 2026, a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562949,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-562931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n