Tsitsipas says he knew of Kyrgios’ cocaine suspension as he spoke after US Open win
Stefanos Tsitsipas said on Monday, after his first-round US Open victory, that he had known about Nick Kyrgios’ suspension for cocaine before it became public; the Greek made the remarks following a four-set win over 10th seed Arthur Fils.
Kyrgios failed a drugs test at a tournament in Mallorca in June and the sample later tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine; he has been suspended by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) since August 4 and later admitted on social media that he’d made a "huge mistake." The pair have a history of tension dating back to Wimbledon 2022, where Kyrgios reached his only Grand Slam final and Tsitsipas called him a "bully."
"Pretty much expected, to be honest. I am surprised it came so late, though," Tsitsipas said when asked about the suspension. He expanded on that position in the same press conference: "I mean, to be entirely honest with you, I knew about this before the announcement. 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.'"
Tsitsipas also addressed off-court rumours directly: "I knew that those were things that were happening away from the tennis courts. I will tell you that," he said, and added, "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."
On court on Monday, Tsitsipas compiled 50 winners while defeating the in-form 10th seed Arthur Fils in four sets, a win that followed a difficult run through 2025. The victory moved him into the second round of the US Open.
Tsitsipas has previously reached World No. 3 and advanced to a couple of Grand Slam finals earlier in his career, background he referenced when discussing the need to regain momentum after a trying period.
He will face qualifier Lloyd Harris of South Africa in the second round.
