Nick Kyrgios’ retirement hints made during Australian Open now seem very real

The retirement hints Nick Kyrgios dropped during the Australian Open now seem even more real after the Australian’s comeback at the Indian Wells Masters went rough. 

In what were his first two tournaments in a year and a half, the 29-year-old went 0-2 during the Australian Summer. In both of those matches, the seven-time ATP champion felt pain and discomfort in his wrist but didn’t want to retire his Brisbane and Australian Open matches.

After not playing any tournaments in February and focusing on the Sunshine Double, Kyrgios made his return in Indian Wells. The only difference this time was that he decided to retire from the match instead of dealing with pain until he lost. 

And following his retirement against Botic van de Zandschulp, the 2022 Wimbledon finalist broke down in tears and later told reporters that he did everything possible to be pain-free. 

Kyrgios’ retirement hints dropped during the Australian Open

After Jacob Fearnley ousted the home favorite in straight sets at Melbourne Park, the former world No. 13 hinted that it was last his singles match at the Australian Open.

“Realistically, I probably can’t see myself playing a singles match here again. I mean Nick Kyrgios without his serve, I’m probably not a threat to many players,” the 29-year-old said in Australia.

Also, Kyrgios directly said that playing tennis in such a condition wasn’t something enjoyable. 

“All the niggles, I guess my body compensating with the wrist is tough, but, yeah, 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. 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,” he explained in Melbourne.

In Indian Wells, Kyrgios said he will try to recover for this month’s Miami Masters and see what happens. 

Even if he manages to play in Miami, one thing seems likely at this point – if the Australian continues to deal with pain and continues to pick up retirements and early losses, he won’t hesitate to retire knowing that he has already indicated several times that he won’t around unless he can be competitive and do well.