Nick Kyrgios has been provisionally suspended from tennis since 4 August after a sample he gave in Mallorca returned a metabolite of cocaine, the International Tennis Integrity Agency said in a statement published on Wednesday morning.
The 31-year-old provided the sample at an ATP 250 event in Mallorca, Spain, on 22 June. A World Anti-Doping Agency accredited laboratory confirmed the presence of benzoylecgonine on 17 July. The agency says the provisional suspension is mandatory because of the nature of the substance, and that Kyrgios has the right to appeal it but has not done so.
While it holds he cannot play in, coach at or attend any event organised or sanctioned by World Tennis, the WTA, the ATP, the Grand Slams or any national association. The agency noted his career-high singles ranking of 13, reached in October 2016.
Where the substance was taken matters to what comes next. Cocaine is a stimulant and a substance of abuse on the WADA prohibited list, and it is banned in competition under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme. The agency's statement says that if a substance of abuse was taken out of competition, reduced sanctions apply. That is the question the case now turns on, and a provisional suspension does not answer it.
Kyrgios acknowledged the result publicly on the day it was announced. "I made a huge mistake and I take full responsibility for it," he said, and added that he would step away from public life for 28 days to focus on getting himself right.
The dates in the statement span 58 days. The sample was collected on 22 June, the laboratory confirmed it on 17 July, the suspension took effect on 4 August, and the agency published on 19 August. Fifteen days passed between the suspension starting and the public being told.
The agency said its support services remain open to Kyrgios throughout the process, as they are in every case under the programme.
A provisional suspension is not a finding. The case proceeds under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme, and any sanction depends on whether the agency accepts the substance was taken out of competition. Until that is settled Kyrgios is out of every event the tours sanction, as a player and as a coach.
