Australia’s
Nick Kyrgios has opened up about how mentally
tough he has stayed during his recovery from a serious injury. The 29-year-old,
who was once regarded as one of the most talented players in the country, has
been out of action for nearly two years after suffering a serious wrist injury
in 2022.
That injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for Kyrgios,
who was going through the best season of his life when he went on to play in
his maiden and, till now, the only final of the Grand Slam at Wimbledon. He
ended up losing to former world number one Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the final
with a score of 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6(7–3). Kyrgios recently spoke to Nine News
about how difficult the journey has been for him. The Canberra-born revealed
how mentally he had to stay to ensure that he would return to the court.
"Honestly, this is probably the best I've felt in two
years," he said. "I played that amazing year in 2022. Then at the
finals in Wimbledon and US Open that's when I started feeling some issues in my
wrist. I had that wrist reconstruction and now I'm feeling amazing. It was a 15
miracle per cent chance that I was going to get back to playing at this level
and here we are. Physically it was brutal. Mentally, I wasn't going to allow
myself [to give up]. I always have wanted to leave the game of tennis myself. I
wasn't going to let this injury be the dictator of if I would ever play again."
Kyrgios went on to express satisfaction that he is once
again ready to take the court next year in the Australian Open. The 2022
Wimbledon runner-up further stated that, in his eyes, he has already ‘won’, and
now whatever he achieves on the court will be a bonus. "I've already won
in my eyes," he said. “Now everything I do on the tennis court whether I
win a match or a tournament or anything like that is going to be a bonus."