On Wednesday morning, before the International Tennis Integrity Agency had issued a single word, Nick Kyrgios went to Instagram. "I wanted you to hear this from me first," he wrote — and then he told the world he had failed a drug test. The 31-year-old Australian, a Wimbledon finalist just three years ago, tested positive for cocaine during an ATP 250 event in Mallorca in June. A World Anti-Doping Agency laboratory confirmed the result last month, and the ITIA moved swiftly to impose a mandatory provisional suspension.

The statement Kyrgios posted is striking for its candour and its pain in equal measure. He offered no deflection — only an account of what the past two years of injuries have cost him. "My body hasn't been able to do what my mind expects it to do," he wrote, "and coming to terms with being near the end of my career has been harder than I ever imagined." He apologised in turn to his fans, his family, his sponsors, and, with particular weight, to the children who follow him.

The length of the ban still has to be determined. Under current WADA regulations, an out-of-competition positive test for cocaine carries a three-month suspension — a rule that has been tightened since Britain's Dan Evans received a 12-month ban for the same substance at the 2017 Barcelona Open. That period can be cut to just one month if Kyrgios completes an approved rehabilitation programme. For now, Kyrgios has promised 28 days away from social media and public life while he focuses on his recovery.

Whether the sport receives him differently on the other side of that silence is a question that has no obvious answer yet.