Nick Kyrgios’ one-month suspension after a positive cocaine test has reopened questions about consistency in anti-doping cases, particularly after the Australian previously criticized Jannik Sinner’s handling of his own failed test.

Kyrgios revealed on social media last month that he had been suspended after a sample taken at the Mallorca Open on 22 June showed benzoylecgonine, a cocaine metabolite. He was provisionally suspended on 4 August, but is now eligible to return after the International Tennis Integrity Agency accepted his account that he used the drug at a nightclub in Magaluf on 20 June.

The agency said the substance had been used outside competition. Because Kyrgios entered a treatment programme, the matter was reduced from the three-month ban that would otherwise have applied.

That outcome has now prompted comment from fellow Australian Omar Jasika, who said he is a friend of Kyrgios. In an Instagram post, the 29-year-old reflected on his own two-year ban from 2018 to 2020 for testing positive for cocaine.

Jasika, who reached a former world ranking of 177, said the Coronavirus pandemic meant he effectively lost four years of his career because he was kept out of the game for much of the following 24 months. He stressed that Kyrgios should not have received a longer suspension, but said he wanted the “same help and understanding” that he did not receive.

He said on social media, “In 2018, I received a two-year ban after testing positive for the same substance. I accepted responsibility for my actions and served every day of that suspension. Because COVID arrived shortly after I became ineligible to return, I effectively lost almost four years of my career during some of the most important years of my life.

“Today, the rules have changed. A player in a similar situation can receive a one-month ban by entering an approved treatment program. I’m not saying Nick should have received a longer ban. I don’t believe that at all. I’m saying I wish the same help and understanding had been available to me.

“I made a mistake and deserved consequences, but losing two years of my career was incredibly difficult. At the time, I wasn’t offered treatment or a clear pathway back. I was simply removed from the sport and left to deal with everything that came with it.

“I’m glad the system has changed and now focuses more on helping players, but it’s hard not to wonder how different my life and career might have been if those same options existed for me. This isn’t me against Nick. It’s me asking whether the punishment I received was fair, and whether people affected by the old rules deserve to have their cases looked at again.”

Compatriot Max Purcell, serving an 18-month suspension for a prohibited method linked to intravenous vitamin infusion, reacted with a raising hands emoji.

Online, some users called the Kyrgios case ironic, arguing that he has now benefited from the kind of “preferential treatment” he accused Sinner of receiving. Sinner’s 2024 doping case ended with a three-month suspension after it was determined he had accidentally ingested clostebol through a first aid spray, a resolution that drew heavy criticism, with Kyrgios among the loudest voices.

In December 2024, Kyrgios said it was “disgusting for our sport” that Sinner and Iga Swiatek had been caught in doping breaches. He also said Sinner had been “protected to some degree” by the short ban. That criticism is now being turned back on Kyrgios.

The debate over the ATP Tour calendar has sharpened again, and the latest criticism comes from Carlos Alcaraz. Speaking at the US Open, the Spaniard indicated that injuries and the crowded schedule could force him to become more selective about where he plays.

At the Grand Slam, Alcaraz said: ““Seeing how tight the calendar is, obviously I don’t want to have this break because of an injury. But in the future, I’m gonna take some breaks… some long breaks.

“Maybe not 4 months, but 1 month, 2 months, start missing some tournaments because it’s impossible to play them all. They’re adding more important tournaments. In a way, they’re making us play.

“We’re seeing a lot of players getting injured, a lot of players getting tired. If they don’t do anything about it, we’re gonna see it even more in the future.”

That concern now sits alongside fresh reports that two ATP Tour events in Mexico could disappear from the schedule before the 2028 season. Mexican tennis journalist Ivan Aguilar wrote on social media: “Mexico will be left without ATP tournaments for 2028! The Arabs have bought the license for the Mexican Tennis Open. The Los Cabos Open will become a Challenger 175 to be played in the first quarter of 2028.”

The timing would make some sense, given the Mexican Open is usually staged in late February or early March, when several Middle East events are also on the calendar. Even so, the change would leave a major gap in South American tennis and remove a tournament that has long been a fixture on the ATP Tour.

The Mexican Open has been an ATP 500 since 2000, with Rafael Nadal, Nick Kyrgios, and Alex de Minaur among its recent champions. Los Cabos, meanwhile, has been an ATP 250 since its launch in 2016, and Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, and Ivo Karlovic have all lifted the title there.

If Los Cabos is reduced to Challenger 175 level, the stronger names are likely to bypass it. For now, it remains unclear whether the event would still be played in July. What is clear is that Mexico could be left without a single ATP Tour tournament, a development that would mark a significant setback for men’s tennis.

Carlos Alcaraz remains among the leading contenders for the US Open despite having missed four and a half months with a wrist injury. The Spaniard was sidelined from April, but his return to competitive singles at Flushing Meadows has begun in controlled fashion.

So far, Alcaraz has moved through Roman Safiullin and Jaime Faria to reach the third round, and he has only dropped one set along the way. That run has done little to alter the sense that he is the player to beat in the draw. His next opponent is Wu Yibing, who earned the meeting by defeating James Duckworth in straight sets.

Daniil Medvedev was asked about Alcaraz’s prospects after advancing himself with a straight-sets win over Sebastian Gorzny. In his press conference, he backed the idea that the biggest names are always the main reference point in major tournaments.

“I think someone like Carlos or Novak as well, even if he is 39 years old. He was the same at Wimbledon and the final of the Australian Open. Yeah, he lost here but things like this can happen. Whenever people like this are in the draw, they are the favourites,” said Medvedev.

“We have no idea how Carlos is going to feel, how his body is going to feel going later into the tournament, but he is definitely the top favourite for the title.

“Usually it’s a mix of things. It is, of course, how you played in Cincinnati and how you played in summer but we just saw Arthur Fils and Brandon Nakashima losing, they had a great summer.

“Then you see the matches that you play here, I am happy with my first two matches. I am looking forward to trying to improve my form. So every tournament is a new story and I want to try and write a good one.”

Medvedev, a former US Open champion, has also seen the path open somewhat with several seeded players already out. Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal and Novak Djokovic’s early exit have changed the shape of the event, while Rafael Jodar, Fils, Andrey Rublev, Cameron Norrie, and Matteo Arnaldi have also departed in the opening rounds. That leaves Medvedev as the sixth highest-ranked player still standing, behind only Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Flavio Cobolli, and Alex de Minaur.