When tennis isn't just a game: Nick Kyrgios's chilling confession off-court

Far from the tennis courts, Nick Kyrgios has been open about his struggles with mental health and suicidal thoughts. In a recent interview on the Jay Shetty Podcast, the Australian tennis player shared a challenging moment he experienced just minutes before a match in Acapulco, Mexico.

“There was a tournament in Mexico, Acapulco, where I was thinking about, I was having suicidal thoughts and, you know, I was just on the balcony of my hotel and I was genuinely thinking about it,” Kyrgios said.

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“And my team was like, 'Oh, we’ve got to play in 10 minutes.' And then I'm going out on court, played amazing, won the tournament,” former world No. 13 added.

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“And everyone globally was thinking, wow, is this the person that we've all been waiting for.“When I was really on the brink of everything. And that's so scary because no one else knew what was going on. It was really hard,” 2022 Wimbledon finalist claimed.

A testing 2019 for Kyrgios

The Australian tennis player acknowledged that his most complex season was 2019. Notably, that year he was the champion at the Acapulco Open, with a remarkable campaign where he defeated the first seed Rafael Nadal, third seed John Isner, and the second seed Alexander Zverev in the final.

“And it was, it was hard. And I look back and I just don't know how I got out of it to be honest, I was such a mess. And the worst thing was the media, I was having decent results during that time.”

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“And the media was like, 'Okay, is this a new Nick Kyrgios? Is this the Nick Kyrgios?' And I was like, 'This is the darkest period of my life,” the Aussie added.

That season for Kyrgios was overall inconsistent, alternating between ATP and challenger tournaments, but he managed to finish as the world No. 30, thanks to a second title at the ATP 500 Washington Open.