Nick Kyrgios drug suspension controversy: Who said what?

Several current and former tennis players have spoken about the controversy

Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has been making headlines more for controversies than for his on-court performances lately, and recent developments have put his future in the sport in serious jeopardy.

The 31-year-old was provisionally suspended by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) on August 19 after a sample he provided at an ATP 250 event in Mallorca came back positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine.

The suspension has been in place since August 4, and Kyrgios has since publicly admitted to the failed test, calling it a huge mistake in a lengthy statement posted to his Instagram.

What makes the whole situation land so ironically is Kyrgios’ own history on this exact subject.

ALSO READ: Stefanos Tsitsipas on Kyrgios’ cocaine suspension: “Not going to cover up someone I know the truth about.”

For close to a couple of years now, he has positioned himself as tennis’s loudest anti-doping voice, tearing into Italy’s Jannik Sinner over his clostebol case and later going after Iga Swiatek of Poland when she tested positive for trimetazidine, dismissing her explanation as an excuse professionals shouldn’t be allowed to hide behind.

Now that he is the one sitting out with a positive test of his own, plenty of players have openly spoken about the controversy, and none of them has exactly rushed to his defence.

Simona Halep

Romania’s Simona Halep was suspended for four years initially during the 2022-23 period for testing positive for Roxadustat, a performance-enhancing drug. This sentence was reduced to nine months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after it was determined that her violation was unintentional.

Taking a dig at the two-time Grand Slam champion, Kyrgios wrote on X (formerly Twitter):

“I’d imagine if I was taking similar things to be banned for 4 years, I’d have about 5 slams. Potato.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece produced a huge upset in the opening round of the ongoing US Open versus France’s Arthur Fils, leading a scathing attack in his post-match press conference against Kyrgios, with the duo having a history dating back to their fiery Wimbledon clash in 2022.

The Greek said that he had actually known about the situation before it was made public. “Pretty much expected, to be honest,” Tsitsipas said, adding that if anything, he was surprised the suspension took as long as it did to come through.

Andy Roddick

The 2003 US Open champion, Andy Roddick of the USA, did not mince his words, lashing out at Kyrgios after news of his positive drug test.

In his podcast, the American said:

“You plead guilty to physically assaulting your girlfriend, but then you want people to understand the context: ‘I was in a dark place, abusing substances, blah, blah, blah.’ Forever you’re going to be the guy who pleaded guilty to abusing his girlfriend, just like forever Jannik Sinner is going to be the guy who tested positive in anti-doping controls.”

“You wanted people to understand your moment in life to say ‘this isn’t who I am, I’m not an abuser even though I pleaded guilty.’ And then you’ve got it all documented saying you had mental health issues from online harassment and media bullying…”

“And what do you do? Not a second goes by without you in the comments accusing Świątek, Sinner, or me of using steroids. And yet you still want people to understand your suffering from online bullying? It’s pure hypocrisy.”

Karen Khachanov

Russia’s Karen Khachanov, who beat Kyrgios in a five-set US Open quarter-final back in 2022 on his way to a maiden Grand Slam semi-final, did not hold back either.

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Speaking to First&Red, he pointed straight at Kyrgios’ history of criticising other players from the sidelines, even during long stretches when he wasn’t competing himself.

“You reap what you sow,” Khachanov said, adding that he felt little sympathy given it was Kyrgios’s own choices that had led him here.

The Russian also brought up one of Kyrgios’s old lines about doping directly, recalling that the Australian had once said he wouldn’t play doubles with anyone who used banned substances, and noted the obvious irony.

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