"I have a new lease on life on court" - Nick Kyrgios starting to overcome persistent injury problems as he ramps up preparation for future events

A return to tennis is on for Nick Kyrgios, who has been constantly plagued by injuries for the last few years. However, it looks like the Aussie's luck is about to change.

He last featured in a Grand Slam event at the start of the year, where he was defeated in three sets by Jacob Fearnley, while also being dumped out in his opening doubles clash to the dismay of the home crowd.

From then, he only competed in two events. There were early exits in the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open before he once again took a hiatus on the sidelines. He was determined to get back to Wimbledon, where he reached the final in 2022, but a minor setback pushed his recovery time back a few weeks. He tested the water with a trip to Washington, teaming up with veteran Gael Monfils. They did not make it far, picking up just four games in a straight set defeat to the eventual runners-up Hugo Nys and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

Since then, he has not made an eagerly anticipated return to court. He skipped the US Open after describing his knee as 'cooked' and would continue to watch from a distance with the season set to finish very shortly.

Three years of setbacks and frustration look to possibly be coming to an end for Kyrgios, who has finally had the pleasure in stating a positive update on his knee.

"In the last month, I don't know what it is. I was with my masseuse and physio last night and something really has changed with my knee," Kyrgios told the Australian Associated Press. "It's not swelling. It's not feeling bad after a session. I don't know whether to call it a miracle or anything, but my knee feels like it's gotten younger by a couple of years."

He has described it as a 'new lease of life' and has also returned to the training court with success. "I don't want to jinx it, but something in it has gone, kind of allowed me to put three, four days of training together on court for an hour-and-a-half, two hours and be able to actually recover and then build on that," said Kyrgios. "So that's been really exciting and I haven't really told anyone. I have a new lease on life on court."

He will be targeting to appear at his home Grand Slam in January, but there are still questions and concerns about him, with his lack of time on the court a huge concern. He has only played one Grand Slam event in the last three years, and just those two Masters 1000 events in the USA in that same time frame.

He has the chance to regain match fitness with some exhibition events coming up, also a chance to test his knee out to see if it can weather a whole match. The most notable clash is against Aryna Sabalenka in Dubai, a repeat of the Battle of the Sexes first played over 50 years ago. While the event has been immersed in controversy and bemusement from fellow tennis fans and former players, it is a golden opportunity for the 30-year-old to get back up to speed against the WTA world number one.

All of this will be leading up to the Australian Open, where he will need a wildcard to get into the event, with his ranking falling drastically to 652nd in the world. The former world number 13 reached a career high back in 2022 after he reached his first Grand Slam final at SW19, losing out to Novak Djokovic. He would follow that up a US Open quarter-final but was just be pipped by Karen Khachanov in a five-set thriller. He will be hoping to rise back to those distant heights, but has a lot of work to do, with a consistent period on court the aim.