Kyrgios: 'Realistically I can't see myself playing singles again here'

Has Nick Kyrgios played his final singles match at the Australian Open? The 29-year-old made his major return on Monday in Melbourne, where he fell in straight sets to Jacob Fearnley. However, he is unsure if he will ever compete again at the hard-court major.

"Realistically I can't really see myself probably playing singles again here," Kyrgios said in his post-match press conference. "It was special. Like taking that in, it was pretty good. I knew that I have doubles, so I kind of was taking everything in tonight in those moments. It was nuts. I didn't want to just throw in the towel and walk off or retire. I was hurting physically. I respect my opponent. The fans waited hours to come see me play. Realistically I can't see myself playing a singles match here again."

Kyrgios' clash against Fearnley was his first at a Slam since the US Open in 2022, having undergone wrist surgery in 2023. Kyrgios reached the final at Wimbledon in 2022 and lifted the trophy at the ATP 500 in Washington one month later. However, the former No. 13 player in the PIF ATP Rankings has played just three matches since the start of 2023 due to injuries.

"I was knocking on the door from playing some of the biggest events, winning some of the biggest events. To see how hard I worked in the past year, I didn't think I was going to be back here anyway playing. I didn't get a wild card. I'm here because I feel like I deserve to be here," Kyrgios said.

“It's hard. When you're competing for the biggest tournaments in the world and you're struggling to win sets physically, it's pretty tough. But I've still got a long year ahead. I'm trusting the process that I can still be able to do some cool things this year at some stage. All my focus now is just not taking anything for granted.”

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

“I knew I wasn't 100 per cent going into this match,” Kyrgios said. “I'm not saying that's why I lost. He outplayed me. He outserved me. He returned well. He did a lot of things amazing. He's played a lot of matches. He's an in-form player. He's transitioning very nicely.

“Honestly, the reason I kept playing, tried to play tonight, was because of the fans. As I said, I don't know how many times I'm going to be back here again. That's why I didn't have headphones on, I wasn't listening to music. I walked out there today, wanted to hear the crowd. There were some special moments.”

While pleased he was able to take to court on Monday, Kyrgios was frustrated he was unable to give his best. The 29-year-old has worked hard in the past 18 months to return to Tour.

“I've put in a lot of work. I didn't play a Grand Slam for 800-something days,” Kyrgios said. “I continued to stay motivated through all those days when I was watching everyone else play, I was on the couch in a cast. I stayed motivated.

“I trained. I was in the gym. I'm in good shape. All the niggles I guess, my body compensating with the wrist, it's tough. It's just not enjoyable for me. It's not enjoyable for me to go out there and not think tactically, enjoy the atmosphere, where am I going to hit the ball. It's thinking about what am I doing to manage my body. Thinking, ‘This is painful, I can't do this because this hurts’. That's not tennis to me. That's not sport.

“I'm happy to play through a bit of discomfort. I'm one of the biggest servers on Tour and I'm getting outserved tonight. My average serve speed was beneath 200 KMH. Nick Kyrgios without his serve is probably not -- I'm not a threat to many players.”

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

While Kyrgios shed doubt on his Australian Open future during Monday's press conference, he added he will aim to play singles at the other majors in 2025.

"I'll play the Grand Slams," Kyrgios said. "I've got my protected ranking. Obviously Wimbledon is a big one for me. I still feel like obviously, if I don't have an abdominal strain, I feel when I sustained that five days before a Grand Slam, it's not ideal. Hopefully, if my body's feeling good, I'll be able to make some noise at Wimbledon."