Kyrgios suffers anti-climatic Australian Open first round loss

Nick Kyrgios has hinted at the possibility of retirement following a disappointing first-round exit from the Australian Open, suggesting he may never play singles at Melbourne Park again.

The highly anticipated return of Kyrgios to Grand Slam tennis ended in a straight-sets defeat to world No. 92 Jacob Fearnley on Monday night in Melbourne, 7-6(3), 6-3, 7-6(2).

Hampered by an abdominal injury that forced him to withdraw from a pre-tournament exhibition, Kyrgios struggled throughout the two-hour, 19-minute match and was visibly uncompetitive for long stretches.

“I mean, realistically I can’t really see myself probably playing singles again here,” Kyrgios told reporters after his loss.

“When you’re competing for the biggest tournaments in the world and you’re struggling to win sets physically, it’s pretty tough.”

He described the difficulty of playing in pain and how it has affected his enjoyment of the game.

“It’s just not enjoyable for me. It’s not enjoyable for me to go out there and not think tactically, enjoying the atmosphere, where am I going to hit the ball.

“It’s like what am I doing to manage my body, this is painful, I can’t do this because this hurts.

“That’s not tennis to me. That’s not sport.”

Kyrgios admitted that playing through discomfort is something he has accepted in the past, but this situation feels different.

“I’m happy to play through a bit of discomfort.

“When it gets to a point of… I’m one of the biggest servers on tour and I’m getting out-served tonight.

“My average serve speed was beneath 200.

“I mean, Nick Kyrgios without his serve is probably not – I’m not a threat to many players.”

Despite his physical struggles, Kyrgios remained hopeful about making an impact later in the year.

“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.”

Before the tournament, sports bookmakers rated Kyrgios among the contenders, with Bovada listing him as short as +2500 to win, placing him seventh in the betting order. However, following his early losses at the Brisbane International and ongoing injury concerns, odds lengthened significantly, with most bookmakers offering over +9900 by the time he began his match.

Despite his singles exit and injury concerns, Kyrgios confirmed that he will continue to compete in doubles with his close friend and compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis later in the week.

“Me and Thanasi, I think we owe it to each other to go out there and play,” he said.

“Obviously I know that he’s a physical wreck most of the time, but he somehow pushes through.

“Props to him for getting through his match today.

“Yeah, but I guess we will play doubles.”

Kokkinakis has also been dealing with injury but managed to secure a hard-fought win over Roman Safiullin in a gruelling four-hour, five-minute battle on Monday night, earning a place in the second round.

The pair famously captured the Australian Open doubles title in 2022 and are currently -200 favourites with Bovada to defeat fellow Aussies James Duckworth and Aleksandar Vukic in their opening doubles match on Wednesday.

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