Nick Kyrgios has revealed he felt “excited” earlier this week after a new injury cast serious doubt on his hopes of a long-awaited return at his home Grand Slam.
It has been a long and grueling road to get to this point for the Australian tennis star, who has jumped through hoops to continue playing at the highest level after a series of injuries put his career on hold.
But in agonizing circumstances, the 29-year-old announced this week that he would withdraw from a doubles exhibition match alongside Novak Djokovic after suffering a grade one abdominal strain.
The seven-time ATP Tour winner has yet to decide whether he will be ready to play next week, admitting he had returned to training testing the injury.
And, understandably, a dejected Kyrgios spoke about his frustrations with the new injury during the match. Rooftop in QT summer campaign event.
“Yes, I mean it's difficult, in the end we play tennis because we love it,” Kyrgios told Daily Mail Australia.
Nick Kyrgios has opened up about an emotional period he had earlier this week after suffering a new injury.
The Australian star had battled back from a tough wrist injury to be fit for the Australian Open, but could still miss out with a grade one abdominal strain.
Kyrgios also spoke about his problematic wrist and stated that after the injury he did not believe he would be able to play again.
“I guess it's about getting out there, being active and just enjoying it and focusing on trying to win or compete and now for me the focus has been load management.” Hurt here.
'Problem here. Abdominal distension, wrist reconstruction.
'It's like… it is what it is, I'm definitely in the latter stages of my career.
'I'm not young anymore, so I understand that my body is tired and gets injured, but yeah, it's definitely frustrating, you know?
“I got emotional a couple of days ago just because I put so much effort into getting back to this point.”
In October, Kyrgios had revealed what was motivating his return before stating that he felt he had “one or two years” left at the highest level.
But last week, it appeared to be far from over, with the tennis great dazzling fans at the Pat Rafter Arena alongside Djokovic in the men's doubles.
The couple lit up the event with tricks, dances and their energy on the court.
Kyrgios returned to training in Melbourne Park today, having also faced Jacob Fearnley in the first round of the Australian Open.
Surprisingly, Kyrgios admitted that he couldn't even perform some very simple tasks because of his wrist.
Kyrgios would also participate in the men's singles event of the tournament, but was eliminated by Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and played three matches in three days.
“Playing doubles with Novak in Brisbane, going toe-to-toe with one of the safest players on tour (Perricard) and it's just…it was tough for me,” he added.
“But there's another setback that hinders my preparation and maybe leaves me out. It's like, 'I just want to be able to play.'”
Kyrgios' Australian Open schedule is yet to be confirmed after he faced unseeded star Jacob Fearnley in today's draw.
Kyrgios will wait for a match later in the first few days of the event to give his abdomen more time to heal.
In recent years, Kyrigos has struggled to recover from the worst of all knee, ankle and wrist problems, with the tennis superstar admitting the injury and surgery had affected his “standard of living.”
“Seven months off my wrist, in fact, I didn't think I would play again. I was still in pain,” Kyrgios said.
“I'm still in pain like I can't play and I've never stopped having pain in my wrist, but I've gotten to the point where I can play.”
Kyrgios (left) and Djokovic (right) dazzled fans at the Brisbane International last week.
Surprisingly, Kyrgios admitted that he couldn't even perform some very simple tasks because of his wrist.
He added: “My standard of living was very bad with my wrist. 'Like I couldn't carry the shopping, I couldn't turn the doorknob, I couldn't put salt in the food.
“So when he told me, 'The surgery wasn't for your tennis, put that (tennis) in the back of your mind, this surgery will help you live again.'
“And if you are somehow able to rehabilitate yourself to the point of being able to play again, that is: 'No other tennis athlete has ever gone through this surgery and the comeback was just an experiment, really.'