Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios says he’s likely played his last singles match at the Australian Open. Video by Australian Open TV
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00:00Nick, that moment in the third set where you did the underhand and then the behind the back and did this one.
00:07You seemed to really take in that crowd. What did that feel like for you particularly,
00:13given I'm sure there was moments in your recovery where you thought, I just want to play again?
00:19Yeah, I mean realistically I can't really see myself probably playing singles again here.
00:26So yeah, it was special. Taking that in, it was pretty good. It was good, yeah.
00:34So yeah, I mean look, I knew that I had doubles, so I didn't want to, you know,
00:40I kind of was taking everything in tonight, you know, in those moments.
00:43It was, yeah, it was nuts. But yeah, that's what I mean.
00:48I didn't want to just throw in the towel and walk off or retire.
00:53I was hurting physically, but I respect my opponent, the fans that waited hours to come see me play.
01:00Yeah, I mean realistically I probably can't see myself playing singles match here again.
01:05Matt?
01:06I guess first just to confirm, you're good for the doubles though?
01:11Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, me and Fenasi kind of, I think we owe it to each other to go out there and play.
01:16Obviously I know that he's a physical wreck most of the time, but he somehow pushes through
01:21and props to him for getting through his match today.
01:27Yeah, but I guess we will play doubles. You know, I'll play doubles. So yeah.
01:32What you did tonight, you felt like level was there.
01:36That doesn't encourage you to play, that you could play singles while here moving forward at some point?
01:43I mean, I don't know, realistically a year from now, you know, I was knocking on the door,
01:50playing some of the biggest events, I mean winning some of the biggest events
01:54and to see how hard I worked in the last year and just to see, you know, I know as, you know,
02:00I'm sorry I don't know your name, but as you said, I didn't think I was going to be back here anyway playing.
02:05You know, I didn't get a wild card. I was playing, you know, I'm here because I feel like I deserve to be here.
02:10But it's hard when you're competing for the biggest tournaments in the world
02:14and you're struggling to win sets physically. It's pretty tough.
02:19But, you know, I've still got a long year ahead and I'm trusting the process that I can still, you know,
02:24be able to do some cool things this year at some stage.
02:26But, you know, all my focus is now is just not take anything for granted.
02:30And then playing doubles with, you know, Thanasi, one of my good mates.
02:33We've won this event before, but we owe it to each other, I think,
02:36to go out there in front of the crowd and just have a bit of fun.
02:39So, Nick, is it about your body?
02:41You think at the moment you don't think your body will be holed up for next year?
02:44Or will you give it time to see if it can during the season?
02:47I mean, my wrist surgery was 16 months ago.
02:51So I just, I've put in a lot of work.
02:56Like, I think it was like I didn't play a Grand Slam for 800 and something days, like 859 days or something.
03:03So I've continued to stay motivated through all those days when I was watching everyone else play
03:08and I was on the couch, like in a cast, and I stayed motivated.
03:12You know, I trained, you know, I was in the gym.
03:15I mean, I'm in good shape.
03:16I just, all the niggles, I guess, my body compensating with the wrist is tough.
03:22But, yeah, it's just not enjoyable for me.
03:25Like, it's not enjoyable to go out there and not think tactically and not think, you know,
03:29I'm enjoying the atmosphere or where am I going to hit this ball?
03:31It's like, what am I doing to manage my body?
03:33This is painful.
03:34OK, I can't do this because this hurts.
03:36Like, it's like, that's not tennis to me.
03:38That's not sport.
03:39Like, that's, you know, I'm happy to play through a bit of discomfort,
03:43but when it gets to a point where, you know, I'm one of the biggest servers on tour
03:47and I'm serving, I'm getting out-served tonight, you know,
03:50my average serve speed was beneath 200.
03:53So, like, that's not, I mean, Nick Kyrgios without his serves,
03:59you know, probably not a, you know, I'm not a threat to many players.
04:06I'm not a threat to many players.
04:07I'm not a threat to many players.
04:08I'm not a threat to many players.
04:09I'm not a threat to many players.
04:10I'm not a threat to many players.
04:11I'm not a threat to many players.
04:12I'm not a threat to many players.
04:13I'm not a threat to many players.
04:14I'm not a threat to many players.
04:15I'm not a threat to many players.
04:16I'm not a threat to many players.
04:17I'm not a threat to many players.
04:18I'm not a threat to many players.
04:19I'm not a threat to many players.
04:20I'm not a threat to many players.
04:21I'm not a threat to many players.
04:22I'm not a threat to many players.
04:23I'm not a threat to many players.
04:24I'm not a threat to many players.
04:25I'm not a threat to many players.