Nick Kyrgios’ is known for his unique approach to playing tennis, but even those familiar with his antics may be surprised by his latest admission.
It has been over two years since Kyrgios reached the 2022 Wimbledon final. Although he lost the final to Novak Djokovic, many felt it was the breakthrough the Australian needed to start regularly challenging for Grand Slams.
Unfortunately, a severe knee injury stopped Kyrgios from potentially doing that. He sustained that problem towards the end of the 2022 season, and it prevented him from building on the momentum he had.
Kyrgios attempted a comeback at the Stuttgart Open in June 2023. His movement was hampered during his opening-round loss to Wu Yibing, and the Australian has not competed in a tournament since.
However, there has been more hopeful news in recent times. Kyrgios held a practice session with his friend Djokovic at Wimbledon this year. Being comfortable enough to hit with the 24-time Grand Slam champion proves he is doing better than previously.
After practicing with him, Djokovic also felt confident about Kyrgios’s return to tennis. The Serbian gave a possible comeback date for Kyrgios, although this was not definitive since the 29-year-old has endured setbacks during his recovery.
The Australian has kept himself busy with punditry and commentary duties. This included commentating on Djokovic’s Wimbledon final loss to Carlos Alcaraz. Kyrgios felt Djokovic started panicking during that heavy defeat to the Spaniard.
The 2022 runner-up at SW19 is scheduled to play in the Ultimate Tennis Showdown in October, which could be his first appearance since Stuttgart in 2023 unless he decides to play some doubles on the ATP Tour before that.
Kyrgios recently gave an insight into his unique style in an appearance on ‘All on the Table’ with Alexander Bublik and Patrick Mouratoglou. He claimed that, until his injury, he had never warmed up before a match in his life.
“Playing tennis now, like I have to warm up for like 30 minutes, which is new. I never warmed up in my entire life. Now I got to walk, like 45 minutes, then get tape, then train.”
The seven-time ATP title winner went into more detail, mentioning his complete lack of preparation before his US Open fourth-round victory against Daniil Medvedev in 2022.
“I’m not lying to you. Bro, even that year in 2022, zero warmup bro. I would go from talking to him to just playing. Like, against Medvedev, I like to go on court cold. It’s cold’ish, I couldn’t move. I just, I love being on the court cold, because you then use your hands more, and then just your body gets into it. You use your drop shots more, because you can’t move your legs.
Kyrgios’ approach is not one fitness experts recommend to achieve success. However, it did not stop him from entertaining fans worldwide with his entertaining style until he got injured.
It seems like the Australian is close to returning to the sport, and he will undoubtedly attract large crowds whenever that happens.
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