Nick Kyrgios responds to suspension after positive drug test: ‘A huge mistake’

Nick Kyrgios, the former Wimbledon finalist, was provisionally suspended from tennis on Wednesday after testing positive for cocaine.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) declared the suspension of the tennis star after the authorities found traces of benzoylecgonine, a cocaine metabolite in his blood sample collected during an ATP 250 event in Mallorca in June.

Following a July 17 WADA lab confirmation of a banned stimulant, the 31-year-old, whose career high-ranking is 13, faced a provisional suspension from August 4.

Soon after the announcement of suspension, Kyrgios completely owned his mistake and asked for a public apology in his Instagram post.

"I recently failed a drug test in Mallorca after testing positive for ⁠cocaine. I made a huge mistake and I take full responsibility for it," Kyrgios said ​on Instagram.

"I'm sorry to my fans, my family, my sponsors and everyone close to me. Above ​all, I'm sorry to the kids who follow me. I know the example this sets and I'm deeply disappointed in myself."

"I ‌do ⁠want to give some context about where I've been. The last couple of years of injuries have taken a huge toll on me, both physically and mentally," he added.

"My body hasn't been able to do what my mind expects it to do and coming to terms with being ​near the end of ​my career has ⁠been harder than I ever imagined.

"I've always said I didn't choose tennis — tennis chose me. But letting go of something that has been my ​whole life is one of the hardest things I've ever had to ​face. At ⁠times I've felt helpless and alone."

The tennis star also asserted that he will work on himself and make a comeback and decided to step away from public life and social media for 28 days.

Cocaine is banned in competition under tennis anti-doping rules and added to the WADA Prohibited List.