"He lost a lot of confidence in his game this year - Philippoussis breaks down Kyrgios' season

Nick Kyrgios experienced one of his worst seasons on the ATP Tour this year, and Mark Philippoussis believes this is due to his countryman's loss of confidence.

Philippoussis, a two-time Grand Slam finalist and Davis Cup winner, believes that Kyrgios' struggles during the 2021 season were due to his loss of on-court swagger as the Aussie has barely played over the last 24 months.

"I don't know what's happening for him off the court," Philippoussis told AAP. "This year he didn't play a lot but he didn't have a good year and he lost a lot of matches. He lost a lot of confidence in his game this year.

"Normally you can see the confidence because he can be a break point down and he can go to his second serve. This year is the first time I can honestly say I saw him playing games without confidence."

Furthermore, Philippoussis stated that Kyrgios would need to take better care of his body in order to reach his full potential. Kyrgios withdrew from several tournaments due to the pandemic and a nagging knee injury, which saw his ranking drop to World No.93.

"It's only going to get tougher for him," added Philippoussis. "Because he plays with such power, if you don't take care of your body when you're six foot five that can lead to injuries.

"He's only 26, it's not like he's old. You can't be thinking you have time because sport is tough. He's 90 something in the world and unfortunately now he's going to have to grind to get back to the top 20."