Stefanos Tsitsipas was ‘surprised’ about the time it took to announce that Nick Kyrgios had called a drugs test having known about it before public confirmation.
The former top 20 Australian tennis star is currently provisionally suspended from the Tour after failing a test that was taken in June at the Mallorca Open. Kyrgios tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine. It is listed as a stimulant and substance of abuse on the WADA Prohibited List.
Shortly after The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) published the sanction, Kyrgios issued a statement on Instagram in which he ‘takes full responsibility’ for what he describes as a ‘huge mistake.’
“I knew about this before the announcement. Myself, I knew about it; I am surprised it came so late,” Tsitsipas said after beating Arthur Fils at the US Open.
“I will just tell you the truth. I knew about all of this before any announcement was made, and when I saw it on social media, I was, like, Here we go. I kind of expected it, to be honest,” he added.
The two have faced off against each other five times in the Tour with Kyrgios winning four of those matches. In 2022 they had a fiery clash at Wimbledon.
Tsitsipas didn’t share how or when he was made aware that Kyrgios had failed a drugs test. There was also no mention of any other players who might have known before the announcement. Under ITIA rules, a public announcement of a provisional suspension occurs no earlier than 10 days after the formal notice or pre-charge letter is sent. The reason is to give the player time to respond to the charge or appeal to an independent tribunal.
“I knew that those were things that were happening away from the tennis courts,” Tsitsipas commented.
“I will tell you that. I’m not going to try and cover up someone that I know the truth for. I’ll consider myself a nice person with everyone, but these were behaviors that I personally heard on the tour and heard other people in that same environment saying those sort of things to me.”
Details of Kyrgios’ case are private and will not be published until after the outcome of his hearing.
