Nick Kyrgios: “I actually don’t see myself playing singles here again” | ATP Tour

Match reaction

Kyrgios: “Actually, I don’t see myself playing singles here again”

Australian casts major doubt on future after Australian Open R1 defeat

January 13, 2025

Has Nick Kyrgios played his last singles match at the Australian Open? The 29-year-old made his major comeback on Monday in Melbourne, where he fell in straight sets to Jacob Fearnley. However, he’s not sure if he’ll ever compete in the hardcourt major again.

“I actually don’t really see myself playing singles here again,” Kyrgios said in his post-match press conference. “It was special. It was pretty good to figure that out. I knew I had doubles, so I was kind of taking everything tonight in those moments. It was crazy. I didn’t want to throw away the ‘sponge.’ here.

Kyrgios’ clash against Fearnley was his first at a Grand Slam since the US Open in 2022, after undergoing wrist surgery in 2023. Kyrgios reached the final at Wimbledon in 2022 and won the trophy at the ATP 500 in Washington a month later. However, the former No. 13 player in the PIF ATP rankings has only played three matches since the start of 2023 due to injuries.

“I was knocking on the door having competed in some of the biggest events, won some of the biggest events. To see how hard I worked last year, I didn’t think I was going to come back here at all way to play. I didn’t have a wild card, I’m here because I feel like I deserve to be here,” Kyrgios said.

“It’s hard. When you compete in the biggest tournaments in the world and you struggle to win sets physically, it’s quite hard. But I still have a long year ahead of me. I trust the process and I may still be able to do cool things this year at some point. From now on, my only concern is to not take anything for granted. »

The 29-year-old lost in the first round of the ATP 250 in Brisbane earlier this season and he struggled physically against Fearnley.

“I knew I wasn’t 100 percent before this match,” Kyrgios said. “I’m not saying that’s why I lost. He surpassed me. He surpassed me. He came back safely. He’s done a lot of incredible things. He played a lot of matches. He is a player in good form. He transitions very well.

“Honestly, the reason I kept playing, I tried to play tonight, was because of the fans. Like I said, I don’t know how many times I’ll come back here. That’s why I didn’t have headphones, I didn’t listen to music. I went there today, I wanted to hear the crowd. There were special moments.

Although happy to have been able to go to court on Monday, Kyrgios was frustrated at not being able to give his best. The 29-year-old has worked hard over the past 18 months to return to the Tour.

“I’ve done a lot of work. I didn’t play a Grand Slam for about 800 days,” Kyrgios said. “I continued to stay motivated during all those days when I was watching everyone play, I was on the couch in a cast. stayed motivated.

“I trained. I was at the gym. I’m in good shape. All the little issues, I guess, my body compensating with the wrist, it’s hard. It’s just not pleasant for me. It’s not nice for me to go there and not think tactically, enjoy the atmosphere, where am I going to hit the ball. It’s thinking about what I do to manage my body. Thinking: “This is painful, I can’t do this because it hurts.” It’s not tennis for me. It’s not sport.

“I’m happy to play despite a little discomfort. I’m one of the biggest servers on the Tour and I’m overwhelmed tonight. My average service speed was less than 200 KMH. Nick Kyrgios without his serve probably isn’t – I’m not a threat to many players.

Known as one of the biggest servers on Tour, Kyrgios hit 15 aces in his first match of the season against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in Brisbane. In three sets against Fearnley, the Australian hit 13 aces, winning 69 percent (60/87) of his first serve points according to Infosys Stats.

While Kyrgios cast doubt on his future at the Australian Open during Monday’s press conference, he added that he would aim to play singles at the other majors in 2025.

“I will play the Grand Slam,” Kyrgios said. “I have my ranking protected. Obviously Wimbledon is an important event for me. I always feel like if I don’t have abdominal tension, I feel like five days before a Grand Slam, it’s not ideal. “Hopefully if my body feels good I can make some noise at Wimbledon. “