"Tennis is stressful as hell in singles" - Kyrgios embraces playing doubles and local culture at Japan Open

Aussie star Nick Kyrgios says he hopes to play at the Rakuten Japan Open every year until he retires from the sport after booking his place in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

In his first tournament since the US Open, Kyrgios overcame a slow start to record a 3-6 6-2 6-2 win over Poland's Kamil Majchrzak in the round of 16. The victory follows up on Kyrgios’ dominant win over Tseng Chun-Hsin in the first round where he dropped just four games.

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The world No.20 will be kept busy this week in Tokyo. Besides his singles matches, he is also the top seed in the doubles tournament alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis with whom he won the Australian Open doubles title with earlier this year. Although there is extra work required, Kyrgios says playing doubles helps him enjoy the sport.

“Tennis is stressful as hell in singles. You try to hold yourself to such high accountability every time. You can be out here (on the court) for three hours. It is exhausting and so serious,” he said. “Playing doubles with Thanasi brings the fun element back. But at the same time, it’s my job and I’m here to make money. That’s how I do it. I play both events.”

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Despite his packed schedule, he has still managed to explore some of Tokyo with a trip to the local zoo, as well as the nearby Pokémon centre.

“It’s just a different culture and different people," said the former World No.13. "It is so fun to be around here and it is different from Australia. It is definitely an event that I want to play pretty much until the end of my career."

Kyrgios will face third seed Taylor Fritz on Friday for a spot in the semifinal.