The last time we saw Nick Kyrgios on a tennis court competing was back in June of 2023 at the Stuttgart Open, which ended up being the only time he played that year. But now, the mercurial Aussie is on the comeback trail, competing in the World Tennis League this week and set to return to the ATP Tour in late December.
Here’s a look at the return of tennis’ bad boy.
Injury setbacks and hiatus
Kyrgios’ problems with injury started in 2022, but really took hold in early 2023.
At the Australian Open, he dealt with knee swelling that required surgical intervention to relieve the pressure. He would miss multiple weeks after that, even though the prognosis indicated that he should return sooner rather than later.
The Australian then finally made his comeback at the Stuttgart event but complained to his team about knee discomfort. He would lose that match and make his way to Mallorca, which was supposed to be his next event.
There, he suffered a wrist injury similar to how Dominic Thiem infamously busted his wrist, which ended up being a career-defining moment for the Austrian. Kyrgios’s wrist injury had a similar impact on his career as he was left without the means of playing for much longer than anybody thought.
Kyrgios even had to resort to trying out experimental treatment methods to try and get back, but it worked, and he is getting ready to return to the courts. It’s a much-anticipated return not only because it’s been over a year since he last played but also because he’s teased it heavily for weeks.
The 29-year-old seems to be excited about coming back to the sport, anticipating great results. With the way he played the last time around when he took things seriously, there is no reason to predict things going any differently this time around.
Upcoming comeback
Kyrgios’ return to competitive tennis will happen in the Middle East, more precisely the United Arab Emirates. This week, he is part of the World Tennis League, which is traditionally played in Abu Dhabi in December. He’s expected to play a few matches there before heading back home to Australia, where he will kick off the 2024 season officially in Brisbane.
What makes his comeback in Brisbane even more exciting is that he’ll play doubles with Novak Djokovic there, something that both have expressed willingness to do ever since becoming best buddies in the past couple of years. Finally, fans will be getting that.
More important for Kyrgios is getting enough matches in before the Australian Open. He has high ambitions for that event, and playing some doubles with Djokovic is light enough work in terms of the effect on his body, but it will do him good heading into the first major of the year.
Expectations and self-assessment
Kyrgios is known as a player who tends to oversell quite a few things, but he’s not the worst offender on this front recently.
He’s been pretty grounded during his rehab process, refusing to really commit to any sort of date, mostly remaining vague in the way he talked about it. He did, of course, tease coming back to the sport, but overall he didn’t really specify when.
His most recent comments have underlined that he’s felt really good recently, which is a positive sign. In a recent interview, the Aussie said that he’s feeling the best he’s felt in two years. That’s an important note because before any of us sees him on the tennis court, his word is the only type of assessment we have on his level and potential output on the tennis 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 the US Open, that’s when I started feeling some issues in my wrist. I had that wrist reconstruction and now I’m feeling amazing.”
Motivation and future prospects
Much around Kyrgios’s tennis depends on the level of his motivation.
He was very motivated in 2022, making it no surprise that it was the best tennis season he’s ever had. He seems to be quite motivated heading into this one as he’s eager to take on some of the youngest players in the sport, such as Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
They dominated the sport since the last time Kyrgios played, and he would certainly like to see himself take them on. He always relished playing against the best, so that’s part of his motivation. Whether he actually backs up his talk remains to be seen, but overall Kyrgios seems motivated, which is a good thing.
Tennis names in the know are certainly not willing to dismiss him, as former player Pat Rafter said that you never want to dismiss a player with Kyrgios’ skillset.
“You would never entirely dismiss a guy with the talent Kyrgios has,” he said. “He’s an incredible talent. I don’t know what he’s been doing all this time, though playing at a competitive level is totally different from training.”
Overall, it promises to be a really interesting Australian summer. Whether you love Nick Kyrgios or not, you can’t deny that the sport is far more exciting with him in it. The same should apply for the Australian summer of tennis because he’s quite popular down under and he makes everything better.
Expect the crowd to be amazing in all of his matches, and you know he’ll show up with his best tennis if the crowd does too. He’s still young enough to make a huge impact in tennis, and apparently after these recent struggles and just getting older, he’s become very wise too.
What’s not to like?
