Nick Kyrgios has admitted that he wants to quit playing tennis altogether after withdrawing from the Australian Open for the second year running, but the 28-year-old feels he has to continue on the court.
Kyrgios has not played in a Grand Slam tournament since reaching the quarter-finals of the 2022 US Open, missing all four major events last year due to a number of serious injury problems.
The 2022 Wimbledon finalist was absent from last year's Australian Open due to a knee problem, which he underwent an operation on, while he missed the French Open due to a freak foot injury allegedly sustained during a burglary at his home.
Kyrgios was scheduled to return for the grass-court season, only to withdraw from Wimbledon with a new wrist injury just before he was due to meet David Goffin in his first-round contest.
Kyrgios's wrist problem ruled him out for the remainder of the 2023 season, during which time he played just one ATP Tour match, losing to Wu Yibing in the first round of the Stuttgart Open.
There was optimism that the Australian crowd favourite would be back for the first Grand Slam of 2024, but on Saturday, he confirmed that he would not be competing Down Under due to his perpetual fitness concerns.
Kyrgios will still be involved at the Australian Open as a commentator, but speaking on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty Podcast - as quoted by BBC Sport - the former world number 13 has confessed that he no longer wants to keep playing and does not envisage staying on the court for longer than another couple of years.
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"If it was up to me, I don't really want to play any more to be honest. I have to [keep playing]. I've got so much more to give but, for me, I don't feel like playing any more," Kyrgios said.
"I'm tired. I have had three surgeries now. I'm only 28 years old, I always wanted to have a family and not be in pain. When I get up, I can't walk without pain. It's a tough gig.
"I only want to play for about another one to two years, be at the top, and go down my own terms. I would hate to have another surgery or anything like that. I think I've still got the ability to have a good one to two years and then that's it.
"I think I'll be at peace with everything I've achieved and I'm going to have to just say to everyone out there who wants me to play more, 'you're just going to have to be OK with me not playing any more'."
Kyrgios's career has also been blighted by problems off the court, as he pleaded guilty to common assault against a former partner in February but was not convicted, as it was concluded that he had "acted poorly in the heat of the moment" by magistrate Beth Campbell.
The Australian has also been fined over £450,000 for various on-court misdemeanours, and earlier this year, he revealed that he had suicidal thoughts and spent time in a psychiatric hospital following his 2019 Wimbledon second-round defeat to Rafael Nadal.
"That period in 2019 accelerated my exhaustion and almost pushed me to the end of my career a bit earlier. If I had a normal career and I flew under the radar, I don't feel I'd feel this way but those couple years really, I think, put a lot on my age. It's just hard. I am tired. I'm tired of playing tennis," Kyrgios added.
The 28-year-old has appeared in the main draw of the Australian Open on nine previous occasions and achieved his best result in 2015, losing to Andy Murray in the quarter-finals.
Ben Knapton
