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NICK Kyrgios hinted on Monday that his straight-sets loss in the first round of the Australian Open may be his final singles match in his home country’s Grand Slam event.
Kyrgios lost 7-6 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (2) to Great Britain’s Jacob Fearnley, who was make his Australian Open debut. Afterward, the 29-year-old said he tried to enjoy the match because he can’t envision playing singles at Melbourne Park again.
“I mean, realistically I can’t really see myself probably playing singles again here,” Kyrgios told reporters. It was special. Look, 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.”
The enigmatic Kyrgios is known for his bold statements and brash personality, so it’s impossible to gauge how seriously to take his retirement talk. However, he did return from an 18-month absence due to wrist and knee surgeries, only to pull out of an exhibition match against Novak Djokovic last week due to an abdominal injury.
Kyrgios opted to play through the injury on Monday but was clearly affected by it against the world’s 92nd-ranked player. It was just Kyrgios’ third singles match since October 2022.
Kyrgios is paired with Thanasi Kokkinakis in doubles, and the two won the title together in 2022. After that, Kyrgios plans to play the remaining three Grand Slam events this season. After that, his professional tennis future remains to be seen.
“Obviously, Wimbledon is a big one for me,” he said. “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. Right now the doubles, I’ll rest.
“It’s just disappointing because I put in so much work.” — Reuters.
Online Reporter