Suspended tennis star Nick Kyrgios takes a shot at redemption

OPINION Suspended tennis star Nick Kyrgios takes a shot at redemption CATHAL KELLY PUBLISHED 1 HOUR AGO Open this photo in gallery: Nick Kyrgios was back in the news this week after the Australian tennis player tested positive for cocaine. PATRICK HAMILTON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Listen to this article Learn more about audio Log in or create a free account to listen to this article. The first thought you had when you heard that former Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios had tested positive for cocaine was probably, “People still do cocaine?” I thought coke went out of fashion around the same time that using it killed a few people. But I guess some guys won’t believe a thing is true until it happens to them. Kyrgios hasn’t bothered denying it, which is a nice change. None of this “I was making myself a Tang and, you know, I thought it tasted funny” business that everyone else tries to pull off. Perhaps sensing that no one anywhere was going to believe him, Kyrgios instead issued a statement of apology: “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.” Forget for a second the doubtful idea that kids are looking to Nick Kyrgios for moral guidance. Why would anyone under the age of majority think about him at all? Tennis-wise, he hasn’t done anything in years. It’s not entirely his fault. Blame the replacement of human on-court officials with disembodied AI voices. Now there’s no one out there for Kyrgios to reduce to tears. He’s suspended for now. He’ll soon find out for how long (probably a few months). In the interim, Kyrgios said, “I’ll do the work and come back better.” Why? Kyrgios is 31, but it’s an old 31. Once ranked 13th in the world, he’s down to 919th. Whatever remains of his celebrity rests entirely on his past reputation as a wild man. It’s not like anyone thinks he cheated, or would care much if he had. Coke doesn’t make you better at tennis. It makes you better at deciding to paint your kitchen at 3 in the morning. If anything, this sort of career-debilitating choice fits in with Kyrgios’s public image. At the very least, he is back in the news. Looking slightly past that, you can see the real goal here: redemption. He’ll “come back better.” Cathal Kelly: The part-time professional athlete is here, and you can’t get enough of them Redemption is something most of us try…