Nick Kyrgios has not ruled out being someone's coach when the ATP star decides to retire from professional tennis.
Kyrgios will return to professional tennis at the start of the 2025 season after only playing one match in the last two years because of severe wrist and ankle injuries.
The Australian revealed that a surgeon gave him a 15% chance of returning to the ATP Tour before he had a wrist reconstruction. The surgery was successful, and he is now ready to make a comeback at the Brisbane International.
Kyrgios will use the tournament in Brisbane to prepare for the Australian Open. The 29-year-old's goal before he retires is to win one of the four majors although it would be a massive surprise if he challenged in his first Grand Slam back.
While injured, Kyrgios worked as a commentator at this year's Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. His tennis IQ shone during matches, and fans praised him for doing a great job at all those tournaments.
How knowledgeable Kyrgios is about tennis means some fans get frustrated when he generates more attention with controversial comments, especially on social media. An example was an unsavory remark about the fact he used to date Jannik Sinner's girlfriend, Anna Kalinskaya.
Former player and highly-respected commentator and analyst Andrea Petkovic blasted Kyrgios for "self-sabotaging with misogynist nonsense" after the incident and said it distracts from him being a very good commentator.
The 2022 Wimbledon runner-up's high-quality analysis during matches could make him a good coach. Despite Kyrgios' lack of work ethic throughout much of his career, he undoubtedly possesses a solid tactical understanding of the game.
During an interview with the AO Show, Kyrgios did not rule out becoming a coach and feels it would be fun to help players during matches with what they should do tactically against certain opponents.
"Possibly. Me and Jordan Thompson used to joke that we would take the kids away on a tour, and we would be the coaches. That'd be a fun tour. I think I would do it at some stage. I do enjoy watching, obviously from a commentating standpoint."
"I'm not a very critical commentator. I don't like when commentators beat down or are too critical because it's not easy out there. In this day and age, the game's so physical. But one day I could see myself.. like, I enjoy giving people advice or tactical and seeing them trying to execute that. It's a bit of fun."
Unexpected coaching appointments are more common in tennis now than they used to be. A recent example was Novak Djokovic stunning tennis fans worldwide by hiring his former on-court rival Andy Murray until at least the end of the 2025 Australian Open.
Djokovic's mentor thinks the appointment could work well, but that remains to be seen. Murray was an emotional player on the court, prone to outbursts at himself and with his team members.
Kyrgios is an even more volatile character, meaning matches with him as a coach would probably be entertaining.