Tennis

Nick Kyrgios is free to return to professional tennis after avoiding the lengthy suspension that threatened to bring his playing career to a premature end following his positive test for cocaine.

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The Australian has received a one-month suspension that has already been served after the International Tennis Integrity Agency accepted that his cocaine use occurred out of competition.

Kyrgios provided a sample at the ATP 250 event in Mallorca on June 22, with testing detecting benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, before he was provisionally suspended from August 4.

The 31-year-old admitted using cocaine and accepted responsibility for his actions, but the timing of when he took the drug ultimately proved crucial to determining his punishment.

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Kyrgios told investigators he had used cocaine socially during a night out several days before competing in Mallorca, rather than taking the substance during competition.

The ITIA consulted an independent scientific expert from a World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory, with the findings supporting Kyrgios’ explanation and leading the agency to accept his use occurred out of competition.

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Under WADA rules, the standard suspension for this type of offence is three months, but it can be reduced to one month if the player enters an approved treatment program.

Kyrgios has agreed to undertake the treatment program, with his suspension ending on September 3 and leaving him eligible to return to competition immediately.

He will forfeit the €6,570 in prize money and ranking points earned from his first-round appearance in Mallorca, but has avoided the far more damaging prospect of spending years away from professional tennis.

The outcome is particularly significant given Kyrgios has played only four ATP singles matches this year following several injury-plagued seasons and has openly acknowledged that he is approaching the latter stages of his career.

When his positive test initially emerged, the possibility of a lengthy suspension raised serious questions over whether the former Wimbledon finalist would ever play professionally again.

Instead, Kyrgios is now free to resume his career immediately, with the decision over when and where he returns to competitive tennis back in his own hands.

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