A devastated Nick Kyrgios admitted on Tuesday night that this could be the last time he would play singles at the Australian Open.
The injury-plagued star said he had struggled not to throw in the towel during his loss to British star Jacob Fearnley as his abdominal tension took its toll during the match.
Doubts had been raised over his fitness ahead of the Australian Open, with the 29-year-old previously admitting it would be a “miracle” if he could return to the Slam.
But he made a big statement after the match: “Realistically, I don't see myself playing singles here again.”
'So… It was special. I have assimilated it. It was pretty good. I mean, yeah, I knew I had doubles and I was taking it all in tonight, in those moments.
'It was crazy. But yeah, I didn't want to just throw in the towel or leave or retire.”
Kyrgios added that he was “hurting physically” but was not going to disappoint the fans “who had waited hours” outside Melbourne Park to get onto the field today.
The Australian had shared snaps on his Instagram of the huge queues of fans waiting outside the tournament to enter the stadium, with some claiming they had been queuing for almost five hours.
But after a big sigh, the Australian repeated: “Once again, I can't realistically see myself playing a singles match here.”
But it won't be the end of his career. Kyrgios stated that he will continue playing doubles and, if his body is good, he will continue playing singles in the remaining Slams this year.
“I knew tonight was going to be tough,” he said.
'With my fitness, I knew I was going to be really hampered with my serve. But just seeing the fans lined up for four or five hours and the amount of people supporting me, it was hard to throw in the towel.
“It would have been very easy to turn around, but I tried to do the best I could with the state I was in physically.
'Obviously, it was heartbreaking. “I wanted to play well and the moment of abdominal tension is not good, but it is what it is.”
Kyrgios, a great tennis entertainer, explained his feelings after suffering the 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 defeat against Fearnely, and the Australian stated that it was “hard.”
“When you compete for the most important tournaments in the world and fight to win sets, physically it is quite difficult.
“But I still have a long year ahead of me and I'm confident that the process can still do some interesting things in the year ahead.”
'My whole focus now is to not take anything for granted and play doubles with Thanasi (Kokkinakis), we've won doubles here before, but we owe it to each other to go out in front of the crowd and have a bit of fun.'
Although he suffered defeat today, the 29-year-old certainly gave the fans at the John Cain Arena something to smile about, producing some sensational tricks including multiple underarm serves before playing a brilliant pass to Fearnley.
The first set was a cautious affair, with Kyrgios noticeably speeding up his 208km/h serve.
He vented about the course and said: 'Damn king serving at 205 (km/h) when I can serve at 230 (km/h).'
He had hit 13 aces and 35 winners in the match, but his inability to reach top speed weighed on him.
He even referred to Fearnley as a “challenging player”.
“I have a damn challenger player who serves more than me,” he said. “It's a lot of fun for me.”
It would come down to a tiebreaker, and the Australian would ultimately fall 7-3.
He would suffer a break early in the second set, and he approached his coaching team and said, “I was a grade one before I got here,” he said. “I don't even know why I played.
“How fucking stupid.”
He called the physiotherapists to the court during breaks and they showed up to administer some treatment to his abdomen.
Kyrgios was heard saying: “I'm going to keep going until I can't take it anymore.”
While he would fight to the end against Fearnley, breaking against the Brit at 3-3, he would ultimately lose in a tiebreaker.
More to follow…