Nick Kyrgios Provides Disheartening Wrist Update After Comeback: 'Reality Setting In'
News
Nick Kyrgios played his first singles match since 2023, and the update on his wrist after the match was far from positive.
The Australian player made a long-awaited return to the tennis court, and even though he played three extremely competitive sets, he eventually lost to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in a match that was played without a single break and finished in three tie-breaks.
Mpetshi Perricard is currently the biggest server on the ATP Tour. No one hits the serve faster than him, and no one hits more aces in a match than the Frenchman does, so this was a big test for Kyrgios.
He didn't know how his wrist would feel in a match like this, but already during the match, he required the help of a physio, and the fact that he sported a relatively heavy strapping on his wrist wasn't positive.
Still, the positive sign was that Kyrgios was able to play 39 games, which is the most players can possibly play in a best-of-three match. What wasn't so positive, however, was his update after the match, as he admitted to feeling discomfort in his wrist.
"Yeah, I felt relatively pretty good physically. My legs, my body felt really good. I felt fit and I'm in great shape. Obviously felt some discomfort with the wrist, but he does serve and hit the ball a lot bigger than probably some of the people that I have practiced with in the last year."
"But there is no hiding. Once you commit to playing like that, you've got to be ready. I'm relatively really happy with how it went. If I had to win that match, I'm honestly not sure if I'd be able to play my second round (smiling)."
The fact that Kyrgios admitted that he probably wouldn't play his second-round match had he won his first match doesn't give fans a lot of hope, especially since he also doesn't have any idea how the wrist might hold up long-term.
"I've got six holes in my hand and one in my arm. Yeah, not one tennis player has ever had this surgery and come back and tried to play again. It's all really an experimental kind of -- the surgeon, like, yeah, if you ever go back and play at this level again, it's on you guys."
"I don't really have any protocol of how it's going to be or how it's going to pull up. So me and my physio, we are taking it as it comes. If we can get through a match, we get through a match. How it pulls up tomorrow, I have no idea. It's throbbing like s**t right now."
Kyrgios is always excited to compete at his home Grand Slam, which will start on January 12th, but after this match, he admitted that he received a proper reality check, suggesting he might not even play in Melbourne.
"I think I was, like, really excited for the Australian Open, but after today -- obviously I'm super excited. If I'm able to play, I'm able to play. But the reality kind of set in to me. That's a best-of-three match with my wrist."
"If I'm able to -- not only is a Grand Slam mentally, like, really draining, like you're there for two-and-a-half, three weeks, it's like physically a grind. I think I almost need a miracle, and I need, like, the stars to align for my wrist to hold up in a Grand Slam for sure. That's kind of the reality setting in."
