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Nick Kyrgios has signed up for his first tournament after serving a one-month ban following a positive doping test. The former world No. 13 tested positive for cocaine while competing at the Mallorca ATP 250 event in June of this year. He was provisionally suspended and then accepted a one-month ban, which was backdated to include time served during the provisional suspension. Kyrgios also had his points and prize money for the tournament removed.
The former Wimbledon finalist has been eligible to compete since September 3, but has not been seen on a tennis court since he lost to Adam Walton in the first round of the Mallorca Championships in June. Kyrgios is now set to return in 2027, signing up for the Kooyong Classic, an exhibition event held before the Australian Open.
Kyrgios has joined a strong line-up, which also includes Arthur Fils, Learner Tien, Holger Rune, Denis Shapovalov, Karen Khachanov, Lorenzo Musetti, and Matteo Berrettini. There will also be a women’s singles match between Paula Badosa and Ajla Tomljanovic.
The 31-year-old also competed in Kooying at the beginning of 2026, beating Zhang Zhizhen 6-3 4-6 [11-9] in a 10-point tiebreak. Khachanov went on to lift the trophy.
Kyrgios played just four official tour-level singles matches in 2026 and won one, beating Corentin Moutet at the ATP 250 event in Stuttgart in June – weeks before testing positive for cocaine.
The Aussie received a pre-charge notice of the positive test on August 4 and entered a provisional suspension. Later that month, he was interviewed by ITIA investigators and admitted that his use of cocaine occurred socially during a night out on June 20, before he had played his first match at the Mallorca Championships.
Kyrgios told investigators that he used cocaine provided by another person while in a nightclub. An independent scientific expert at a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratory confirmed that Kyrgios’ explanation was consistent with the level of cocaine found in his sample.
The ITIA accepted that the use of cocaine happened outside of competition, and the WADA Prohibited List does not prohibit the use of cocaine out of competition. The default suspension for this type of breach is three months, which can be reduced to one month if the athlete commits to an ITIA-approved treatment programme.
Kyrgios entered into a treatment programme and therefore accepted a one-month ban. His results from the Mallorca Championships were disqualified. He did not earn any ranking points for losing in the first round, but forfeited £5,496 (€6,570) in prize money.
It remains to be seen whether Kyrgios returns to official tour-level competition following his suspension. The Aussie has barely played over the last four years due to injuries and is currently ranked at No. 911 in the world, relying on wildcards to enter big tournaments.
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