Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Tainted former tennis star Simona Halep has sent a pointed message to Nick Kyrgios after the Australian tennis star was provisionally suspended following a positive cocaine test. Halep, who retired from professional tennis earlier last year, took to Instagram after news of Kyrgios’ suspension emerged.
Without naming the former Wimbledon finalist, the Romanian wrote: “Never kick someone when they’re down. Life has a strange way of changing positions. And an even stranger way of revealing the difference between an accident and a choice.”
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HALEP’S DIG AT KRYGIOS
The timing of the post has made the connection difficult to ignore. Kyrgios was one of the most vocal critics of Halep during the doping controversy that threatened to end her career, with the Australian publicly mocking the Romanian after she was handed a four-year suspension.
“I’d imagine if I was taking similar things to be banned for 4 years, I’d have about 5 slams. Potato,” Kyrgios wrote on X at the time.
Halep’s four-year ban was eventually reduced to nine months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after she challenged the original ruling. She returned to tennis in 2024, but struggled with injuries and was unable to rediscover the form that had taken her to the top of the women’s game.
She announced her retirement in February, 2025 after losing to Lucia Bronzetti at the Transylvania Open. Now, with Kyrgios himself at the centre of a doping controversy, his old comments have resurfaced.
NICK KYRGIOS SUSPENDED
The International Tennis Integrity Agency confirmed that Kyrgios was provisionally suspended after testing positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, from a sample collected during an ATP 250 event in Mallorca on June 22. A WADA-accredited laboratory confirmed the presence of the substance on July 17, with the provisional suspension coming into effect on August 4.
Cocaine is classified as a stimulant and a substance of abuse on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Prohibited List and is banned in competition under tennis’ anti-doping rules. Reduced sanctions can apply when such substances are established to have been used outside competition.
Kyrgios did not appeal the provisional suspension and publicly acknowledged the positive test, describing it as a “huge mistake”.
“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 in an Instagram statement.
“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.”
The 31-year-old also said he would step away from social media and public life for 28 days to focus on himself.
DELIBERATE DOPING FROM KYRGIOS?
Kyrgios did not make excuses for the failed test, but explained that the last few years had been particularly difficult as he battled a series of injuries and struggled to come to terms with the possibility that his playing career was nearing its end.
“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 said.
“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.”
Kyrgios has endured a prolonged injury battle since reaching the Wimbledon final in 2022. He missed the entire 2024 season and has undergone wrist reconstruction and knee surgery, limiting him to just 10 matches since the start of 2023.
His ranking has consequently plummeted, while his most recent appearance came at Wimbledon earlier this year, where he partnered Alexander Bublik in the men’s doubles.
The Australian has now chosen not to appeal his provisional suspension and said he would use the next 28 days to “focus on getting myself right”.
“I’m sorry. I’ll do the work and come back better,” he concluded.
KYRGIOS’ PREVIOUS ATTACK AGAINST DOPERS
The Halep controversy was not an isolated instance of Kyrgios taking a hard line on doping cases in tennis.
The Australian was particularly vocal about the cases involving Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek, both of whom served suspensions after testing positive for prohibited substances.
When Sinner accepted a three-month ban after testing positive for trace amounts of clostebol, Kyrgios was scathing in his assessment.
“Sad day for tennis. Fairness in tennis does not exist,” he wrote.
“Ridiculous – whether it was accidental or planned. You get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance… you should be gone for 2 years. Your performance was enhanced. Massage cream… Yeah nice.”
Kyrgios also reacted strongly to the wider doping controversy involving Sinner and Swiatek.
“Two world number ones both getting done for doping is disgusting for our sport. It’s a horrible look,” he had said.
Those comments have now returned to the spotlight after Kyrgios himself was provisionally suspended by the International Tennis Integrity Agency.
HALEP STILL HURT OVER LOST CAREER
The irony of the situation is particularly stark given what Halep went through after testing positive for Roxadustat at the 2022 US Open.
The Romanian was initially handed a four-year ban, a punishment that would have kept her out of the sport until 2026. The CAS later reduced that sanction to nine months after accepting her appeal. Halep returned to competition in 2024, but her comeback was repeatedly interrupted by physical problems.
A former World No. 1, Halep won two Grand Slam titles during her career, lifting the French Open trophy in 2018 before winning Wimbledon in 2019. She finished her career with 24 WTA singles titles.
Now, a year and a half after walking away from tennis, Halep has found herself back in the conversation surrounding doping in the sport.
This time, however, she is on the other side of the story, watching a former critic deal with the kind of scrutiny he once directed at her.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
