Tsitsipas says Kyrgios cocaine test result was ‘kind of expected’

NEW YORK, Sept 1 — Stefanos Tsitsipas expressed surprise at Nick Kyrgios's cocaine positive test result, stating, "I kind of expected it, to be honest," at the US Open after his opening round victory over French 10th seed Arthur Fils. The former Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios has been provisionally suspended since last month, after admitting to making "a huge mistake" following a failed drug test.

The 31-year-old Australian, who has been absent from singles tennis for some time, apologized for his actions, citing injuries that had taken a "huge toll on me both physically and mentally." After defeating Fils 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-1, 6-4 in New York, Tsitsipas, now ranked 53rd, was questioned about Kyrgios's positive drug test. Tsitsipas, who briefly played doubles with Kyrgios but has had a strained relationship with him, refused to defend the former star.

"I'm not going to try and cover up someone that I know the truth for," Tsitsipas said. "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." Despite his impressive serve and powerful ground strokes, Kyrgios has won seven singles titles on the ATP Tour, reaching a peak ranking of 13 in 2016.

His best performance on grass came in 2022 at Wimbledon, when he reached the final, where he narrowly lost to Novak Djokovic. However, Kyrgios has struggled with injuries, leading him to admit in January that he would never return to his former level of play.