Nick Kyrgios’ Australian Open comeback is over and he had a shock admission post-match, declaring “realistically I can’t see myself probably playing singles again here”.
The former world No.13, who hadn’t played in a grand slam for two years, suffered a shock straight sets loss to Brit Jacob Fearnley, with the final score 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).
Kyrgios continually vented his frustration towards his box throughout the match and constantly clutched at an abdominal issue that left him under an injury cloud coming into the singles tournament.
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In the first game of the match, Kyrgios’ big serves were on show, finishing with three aces.
Nick Kyrgios during his loss. Getty
But as the match wore on, his speed decreased, much to his frustration.
Overall, Fearnley out-served him, finishing with 17 aces to 13. Kyrgios’ first serve average speed was 185km/h while Fearnley averaged 192km/h.
The Brit was ruthless with his returns too, and broke Kyrgios in the second set to lead 2-0 at one stage.
“That must really infuriate Kyrgios, that this guy is just attacking his serve. He’s doing damage with those returns,” John McEnroe said on Nine.
Kyrgios dropped the second set but showed signs of a comeback in the third when he broke the serve of Fearnley at 3-3.
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World No.92 Fearnley eventually managed to hold on though, winning the tiebreaker 7-2 in the final set.
“He can raise his fists with great delight,” Todd Woodbridge said of Fearnley on Nine.
“It was impressive … he’ll (Kyrgios) be disappointed but I think he had question marks over his fitness as well,” Lleyton Hewitt added.
During that third set, Krygios notably dazzled the crowd with an underarm serve and behind the back shot.
It was a point the Aussie was asked about in his press conference, prompting that shock admission about not playing singles at the Australian Open again.
“It was special, taking that in it was pretty good,” he said after that statement.
“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 but I respect my opponent and the fans that waited hours to come see me play.”
Kyrgios then repeated once again “realistically I can’t probably see myself playing a singles match here again”.
The 29-year-old was asked if the confession was given his injury history, and he responded that the niggles he has endured are “tough”.
“It’s just not enjoyable for me, it’s not enjoyable to go out there and not think tactically and not think I’m enjoying the atmosphere or where am I going to hit this ball,” he said.
“It’s like what am I doing to manage my body? This is painful, OK, 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 but when it gets to the point where I’m one of the biggest servers on tour and I’m getting out-served tonight … Nick Kyrgios without his serve, I’m not a threat to many players.”
Kyrgios went on to state he intends on playing the rest of the grand slams this season with a particular focus on Wimbledon.
