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A 12-minute pre-Wimbledon media conference in July offered little hint of what came next from Nick Kyrgios.
There were no aggressive showdowns with journalists as Kyrgios fielded and answered, articulately and at length, questions on topics from his surgically repaired knee and mental-health admissions, to social media scrutiny and even tournament security.
Nick Kyrgios kept his wrist injury to himself in a pre-Wimbledon media conference before withdrawing hours later.Credit: POOL AELTC
However, Australian tennis’ greatest showman omitted the most relevant detail of all.
Only hours later, a previously undisclosed wrist injury prompted Kyrgios to withdraw from Wimbledon, the scene 12 months earlier of his biggest on-court moment – a final against Novak Djokovic. He has not played since.
Kyrgios, 28, is only now free of a splint from his right forearm, with five weeks to go until the first ball is hit in anger at the Australian Open.
There is serious doubt about his AO involvement, almost 11 months since he sullenly walked into a Melbourne Park auditorium, dressed in black cap and hoodie, to announce he was out of the 2023 edition because of a knee injury.
Senior figures in Australian tennis told this masthead that next year’s Wimbledon seems a more realistic return date, or at least timeline to be back to his best, from an injury that also blighted the careers of grand slam champions Juan Martin del Potro, Dominic Thiem and Emma Raducanu.
Kyrgios himself said the “stars have to align a bit” for a comeback.
“We won’t see him at his best for a while – probably not until Wimbledon next year,” Australian doubles great and former AO tournament director Paul McNamee said. “I don’t know if he’s going to make it for the Aussie Open or not, I don’t have the insight, but he won’t be at his best. He’s pretty good fresh, though, and he’s a scary draw [for rivals].”
Former Davis Cup stalwart Wayne Arthurs added: “Is a 20 per cent Kyrgios going to rock up to the Aussie Open? I don’t think he will play. But by the middle of next year, at Wimbledon, it might be time.”
The knee problem that caused Kyrgios to pull out of this year’s Australian and French opens is no longer the issue. Instead, the torn wrist ligament suffered at the Mallorca Open in June threatens to derail his quest for a grand slam singles title.
An ATP medical expert, Todd Ellenbecker, told this masthead that wrist injuries were an occupational hazard in tennis, explaining that proper rest and recovery were essential to avoid recurrence.
“An injury to the wrist can occur from one shot or one serve [but] it is usually the result of repetitive microtrauma to the structures of the wrist – most commonly tendons, but also ligaments,” Ellenbecker said.
“The highly repetitive nature of tennis competition and training lends itself to overuse injuries throughout the body. The tendons of the wrist are very vulnerable to the repetitive stresses of all tennis strokes, and can cause, initially, inflammation and pain and, with continued overload, lead to degeneration of the tendon requiring more extensive rehabilitation and recovery.”
Kyrgios’ caution in figuring out when to return has merit, given tennis players’ chequered history with wrist problems. Neither del Potro nor Thiem was able to replicate his previous heights after wrist woes.
Del Potro, who had issues with both his wrists, eventually retired last year but by then it was the toll of multiple knee surgeries, while Thiem – once a top-five staple and perennial grand slam contender – is still persisting but barely a top-100 player these days.
Raducanu, the 2021 US Open winner, has not played since April because of a recurring wrist problem, including undergoing surgery on both hands and one of her ankles, while fellow Brit Laura Robson missed 17 months with a wrist issue before retiring prematurely after myriad injuries.
Other big names to have surgery, miss significant time, or have lingering issues from a wrist injury include Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Kei Nishikori, Taylor Fritz, Caroline Wozniacki, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Sloane Stephens and Marketa Vondrousova.
Triple grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka, Fritz, Daniil Medvedev and fellow player Zizou Bergs, who tore a ligament in his left wrist, all blame constant ball changes for the wrist plague.
This masthead asked Fritz this week about that stance, and he remains “100 per cent” convinced his wrist issues occurred only after using different balls from the previous tournament.
“I know my body really well, and I don’t know if overuse is also a factor in it, but I’ve been playing for eight years and I never really had wrist issues prior to this year,” the American said.
“It always flared up when we switched balls. It got bad originally at grass-court season, when we switched from the Wilsons at the French Open to the Slazengers, then it started to get a bit better, but we switched to a Tecnifibre ball that we’ve never played with before at Washington, and it got really bad again.
Taylor Fritz has also had wrist issues.Credit: Getty Images
“It’s definitely a problem they need to fix. Some balls, when we switched, were a bit softer, which felt a bit better on the wrist, then you switch to balls that are really hard, and they feel like a brick when they hit your racquet.”
Adding further intrigue to Kyrgios’ situation was he did not use his protected ranking of No.21 to enter next month’s slam, which was not a shock but means he will need a wildcard – that is, if he even intends to play. Australian Open boss Craig Tiley did little to raise hopes of a Kyrgios comeback this summer, saying a fortnight ago that the Canberran “wants to do the best he possibly can” and that his decision would “be determined closer to the event”.
For Kyrgios’ part, he reiterated last month that he wanted to return to the tour and was doing everything possible to do so, with his career-best 2022 season, including making the US Open quarter-finals, driving him most of all.
Germany’s Alexander Zverev, who fought his way back inside the top 10 after months out recovering from a significant ankle injury, is one player inspiring Kyrgios, but he conceded in a commentary appearance on the Tennis Channel that things would have to go his way.
Outside those types of statements, there have been few, and only vague, updates from the Kyrgios camp on his progress. That is not to say he is keeping a low profile – far from it.
Kyrgios popped up on Piers Morgan’s show last week and was in Miami this week discussing his pickleball venture, while he floods his social media followers with daily posts, typically regurgitating trick-shot or video-game highlights, showing off his social life, or spruiking his latest endorsement deal.
He is OnlyFans’ newest content creator, for those who missed it. One of Kyrgios’ posts, soon enough, will provide clarity on his tennis plans, or lack thereof, this summer.
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