Nick Kyrgios admits he’s not able to play singles on the Australian Open and can as a substitute concentrate on the doubles occasion alongside his accomplice Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The Australian posted introduced on social media that he had “made the call to focus on doubles” and was “not quite ready to go the distance” in singles.
Damage-plagued Kyrgios, who misplaced the primary spherical of the Brisbane Worldwide earlier this week has performed simply six official singles matches within the final three years. He had been hoping for a late wildcard at Melbourne Park, which begins on January 18.
The 30-year-old has suffered varied accidents to his wrist and knees since 2022 when he made the ultimate at Wimbledon and misplaced to Novak Djokovic.
“After some good conversations with (Tennis Australia), I’ve made the call to focus on doubles at this year’s AO,” he wrote.
“I am match and again on court docket, however five-setters are a special beast and I am not fairly able to go the gap but.
“This match means every thing to me, however I might relatively give my spot to somebody who’s able to make their second rely.
“It’s all building blocks and I’ll be back next year and pumped to compete.”
His singles conflict with little-known American Aleksandar Kovacevic in Brisbane was his first since March.
Kyrgios defeated world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka of their controversial ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match in Dubai
Kyrgios, who’s ranked down at 670, has been a distinguished determine on the exhibition circuit over the past month, not least together with his victory over Aryna Sabalenka of their ‘Battle of the Sexes’ conflict in Dubai, however he couldn’t replicate that on house soil, dropping out 6-3 6-4.
He plans to play males’s doubles alongside Kokkinakis on the Australian Open, the place they gained the title in 2022.
Dubbed the ‘Particular Ks’, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis reprised their partnership by successful their opening match on the Brisbane Worldwide this week.
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Kyrgios unintentionally hit a ball child with a forehand drive throughout his doubles return with Kokkinakis in Brisbane.
It was the primary match on the ATP tour in 167 days for Kyrgios, whereas Kokkinakis performed for the primary time since struggling a pectoral harm in January 2025.
The pair beat Matthew Ebden and Rajeev Ram 5-7 6-4 10-8 earlier than dropping within the second spherical to Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul.
“This is a stepping stone,” Kyrgios mentioned. “I actually just spoke to Daniil Medvedev in the locker room, and he’s like, ‘look, you play one match every now and then, it’s not going to be the way you want it all the time’.
“So long as I really feel good and I am going to have the ability to try to use it as a constructing block, that is my purpose clearly, and never simply Australian Open however this yr, for no matter this yr holds, I do need to proceed to play as a lot as I can.”
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Thanasi Kokkinakis bought emotional after a successful return to the doubles court docket with Kyrgios…
‘Battle of the Sexes was pointless with girls’s tennis taking successful’
Gigi Salmon mentioned ‘Battle of the Sexes’ was “win, win” for Kyrgios
Sky Sports activities’ presenter Gigi Salmon was important of ‘Battle of the Sexes’ conflict in her column, saying it was an opportunity for Kyrgios to remain “relevant”.
She mentioned: “For Kyrgios it was easier to see why he would agree, out of the spotlight and with just five matches to his name in 2025, with only one competitive match win since the end of 2022, largely due to injury and sitting at 671 in the world it was a chance to stay relevant.”
Salmon added: “The reason I called it pointless when asked for my thoughts on it, was I saw it as only lose, lose for Sabalenka, win the match and congratulations you’ve beaten the world No 671, who has hardly played in recent times, lose and ‘oh dear the women’s world No 1 has just lost to the world No 671, who only played five matches with one win all year’.
“For Kyrgios it is win, win – lose and he says he wasn’t meant to win he has hardly performed, win which he did and have a look at me I’ve hardly performed but I’ve overwhelmed the perfect girls’s participant on this planet.
“While in the short-term women’s tennis took a hit, with all those ‘new’ fans they wanted to bring into tennis wondering how does someone who has hardly played all year beat and beat convincingly the best player in women’s tennis and what does that say about the women’s game?
“I feel folks will transfer on and be completely satisfied to take action. Ladies’s tennis rightly led by Sabalenka is in an excellent place proper now, so whereas folks could query her motives, I do not imagine that any main hurt has been finished.”
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