Stefanos Tsitsipas Comments on Nick Kyrgios' Drug Ban
Stefanos Tsitsipas did not flinch.
Fresh from knocking out 10th seed Arthur Fils in the first round of the US Open, the Greek was asked about Nick Kyrgios and the drug ban that has jolted tennis. His answer landed with the same blunt force as some of his forehands.
He wasn’t surprised. Not at all.
Kyrgios was suspended earlier this month after revealing he tested positive for cocaine in June while in Spain for an event. The Australian faces a potential four-year ban, though a reduced sanction is widely expected.
For many, the news was a jolt. For Tsitsipas, it felt overdue.
“I mean, to be entirely honest with you, I knew about this before the announcement. Myself, I knew about it,” he said. “So what can I tell you? 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.”
This is no casual observer talking. The former world No 3 has a long and famously stormy history with Kyrgios, one that exploded into public view on the lawns of Wimbledon in 2022. That third-round encounter, which Kyrgios won en route to his only Grand Slam final, descended into chaos: Tsitsipas fired balls directly at his opponent, smashed another into the crowd, and later branded Kyrgios a “bully”.
Their rivalry never really cooled. It just moved into the background as Kyrgios’ career was repeatedly stalled by injuries. When the Australian spoke about his suspension, he described feeling “helpless and alone” and admitted that “none of that excuses what I did”.
Tsitsipas, though, made clear this latest chapter did not catch the locker room off guard.
“I knew that those were things that were happening away from the tennis courts. I will tell you that,” he said. “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 behaviours that I personally heard on the tour and heard other people in that same environment saying those sort of things to me.
“So when I saw it I was like, ‘well, pretty much expected, to be honest’. I am surprised it came so late, though.”
The Greek has often tried to steer his narrative back toward tennis, to his own ambitions and frustrations. Yet Kyrgios’ shadow keeps reappearing, a reminder of a rivalry built as much on personality clashes as on shot-making.
Now one of them is grinding through the US Open draw, trying to rebuild his ranking and relevance. The other is staring at the possibility of years away from the sport, his future hanging on the length of a ban that, in Tsitsipas’ eyes, felt inevitable long before it became official.
