Current world No. 892 Nick Kyrgios believes it wouldn’t be that hard for him to get a wildcard for any tournament but doesn’t want to do that because of some personal reasons and his belief that special invitations should be reserved for young talents who need an opportunity.
Since the seven-time ATP champion was basically out for two full seasons due to knee and wrist surgeries, he was eligible for a protected ranking. And after confirming his comeback for the start of 2025, he had a protected ranking of world No. 21 to use.
Since players are limited to how many tournaments they can enter through a protected ranking, it is not a secret that some first try to see if they can get a wildcard from a tournament. But Kyrgios refused to go that route, only using his protected ranking so far in his comeback. The Australian, who can enter 12 tournaments via a protected ranking, has played in four events so far this year.
Kyrgios: I don’t want to be taking other people’s opportunities
“I know I could probably get wildcards at most of the events, but I don’t want to be taking other people’s opportunities. There’s a lot of good, young players at these events and I don’t like just going in and taking wild cards, because that’s their development,” the former world No. 13 said on Tennis Channel.
After his first three comeback tournaments went rough and Kyrgios picked up as many defeats and struggled with wrist pain and discomfort, he finally caught a break in Miami and registered a win there as he beat Mackenzie McDonald before losing to Karen Khachanov.
The clay season starts soon – and since Kyrgios has a history of skipping the entire clay swings – it is a question if and how many tournaments will he play in the upcoming period.
