Nick Kyrgios is eligible to return to tennis after accepting a one-month ban for testing positive for cocaine.<\/p>\n
The Australian, 31, was provisionally suspended on 4 August <\/a>after a sample he submitted during the Mallorca Open in June was found to contain benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine.<\/p>\n Kyrgios told investigators from the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) that he used cocaine at a nightclub in Magaluf in the early hours of 20 June.<\/p>\n He played his first-round match at the Mallorca tournament two days later, losing in straight sets to compatriot Adam Walton.<\/p>\n The ITIA accepted he used cocaine outside of competition after consulting with an an independent expert.<\/p>\n Kyrgios could have faced a maximum three-month ban but it has been reduced to one month after he entered a treatment programme.<\/p>\n His one-month ban ended on Thursday, 3 September.<\/p>\n Kyrgios, who has fallen to 918 in the world rankings, will also lose his prize money of 6,570 euros (\u00a35,650).<\/p>\n When the positive test was announced, Kyrgios said he would step away from social media and public life for the next 28 days to “focus on getting myself right”.<\/p>\n The former world number 13 has played just four singles matches this season, having struggled with knee and wrist injuries in recent years.<\/p>\n He last played in the men’s doubles at Wimbledon, where he and partner Alexander Bublik lost in the first round.<\/p>\n After his initial suspension was announced, Kyrgios said the past few years of injuries had taken “a huge toll on me, both mentally and physically”.<\/p>\n “My body hasn’t been able to do what my mind expects it to do,” he wrote in a lengthy statement on Instagram.<\/p>\n “Coming to terms with being near the end of my career has been harder than I ever imagined.<\/p>\n “None of that excuses what I did.”<\/p>\n Cocaine is classified as a stimulant and substance of abuse on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list.<\/p>\n Kyrgios has long been a controversial figure in tennis.<\/p>\n His behaviour on court has been widely criticised and he has been given numerous large fines for smashing racquets, making audible obscenities and arguing with the umpire.<\/p>\n In 2023, he admitted assaulting<\/a> an ex-girlfriend two years earlier. He avoided a criminal conviction.<\/p>\n He was criticised further for making a series of comments which have been considered misogynistic.<\/p>\n In 2024 he shared a post from controversial influencer Andrew Tate. He later said he had gone “to all lengths”<\/a> to distance himself from the self-proclaimed misogynist.<\/p>\n