Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios has been cleared to return to the tour following a one-month suspension for testing positive for cocaine. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted that his violation occurred outside of competition, allowing him to compete starting Friday.
Kyrgios initially faced a longer suspension after failing a drug test on June 22 at an ATP 250 event in Spain. He has since acknowledged the incident as a “huge mistake” and entered a treatment program. The reduction in his ban makes him eligible to play again just one month after the initial ruling.
I’m honestly surprised the ban was only one month. Cocaine use is serious, regardless of when it happened.
Glad he’s getting treatment and owning his mistake. That’s the most important part here.
Does the ITIA really have different standards for outside-competition violations? Seems like a massive loophole to me.
Can’t wait to see if he still has that fire on court. One month doesn’t seem like enough time to recover.