The severity of the penalty Nick Kyrgios faces for testing positive for cocaine depends on whether he can prove he took the drug out of competition. The 2022 Wimbledon finalist tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, at the Mallorca grass event in June, and is currently serving a mandatory provisional suspension. In theory, the sanction could be extended to four years, but it will be a maximum of three months if the Australian can convince investigators that he took the drug out of competition. They are considered to be “in competition” from the day the draws they compete in begin until they leave the tournament after their last match. Before the grass season, former world No. 13 Kyrgios had not played since January’s Australian Open, so he spent very few days at the venue recently. It is considered to have been “in competition” in Stuttgart between June 8 and 12, and again in Mallorca on June 21 and 22. It was June 22, when he left the tournament in the first round. – that Kyrgios presented the sample that was later found to contain benzoylecgonine. If the 31-year-old can convince the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) that he took the drug before “competing”, there would be no need for an independent tribunal to be formed. This would make the process much faster, and if Kyrgios subsequently agreed to enter a treatment program, the suspension could be brief, such as a month. His provisional suspension began on August 4, which means that he could even return to competition from September 4.
