Nick Kyrgios has confirmed his tennis career may already be over, suggesting his next comeback attempt will settle it once and for all.
But if successful he has already decided he will not put his name forward to represent Australia at the Paris 2024 Olympics, revealing he has never forgotten how he was treated before Rio 2016.
The 28-year-old remains sidelined following a series of knee and wrist injuries that first halted his career at the 2023 Australian Open.
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Save for an ill-fated June comeback that lasted just one match, Kyrgios has only been sighted around tennis as a commentator — and that’s where the Australian’s future may now lie.
“I sat down with my agent Stuart Duguid a couple of days ago to talk about my future. The reality is, there is a part of me that knows my time in the sport may be over. And I’m ok with that,” he wrote in The Age.
“It’s a conversation that needed to be had. I’m at a crossroads in my career and have reached a point where life after tennis is a prospect that excites me.”
Kyrgios conducted his first on-court interview of the Australian Open on Tuesday night when he spoke with Novak Djokovic, with a conversation about winning grand slams belying his fresh talk of retirement.
On Wednesday, too, he wrote that “the fire still burns” to win tournaments if his body allows him to play at that level.
“It annoys me that there are people out there who think that I don’t want to be out there,” Kyrgios said.
“It’s as if they think I don’t want to play and make excuses with my injuries.”
Kyrgios name-dropped Lleyton Hewitt and Alex de Minaur for their frustration when his knee injury first began to trouble him before pulling out of the Australian Open last year.
But his most significant grudge remains with Australian Olympic Committee officials — and specifically ex-chef de mission Kitty Chiller.
The 2022 Wimbledon finalist said it was a “disgrace” that he was threatened with being banned from Rio 2016 for behavioural reasons and “is something that I just can’t forget”.
The then 21-year-old had a target on his back alongside Bernard Tomic, with Chiller criticising the pair amid tanking accusations.
“Representing Australia at the Olympic Games has been a dream of mine since I was a kid,” Kyrgios wrote at the time.
“Playing in the Olympics was a goal this year. I planned my tournament schedule around Rio and made sure to fulfil my Olympic eligibility.
“Unfortunately, while I have expressed every intention of trying to win a medal for my country in Rio, it’s very clear to me that the Australian Olympic Committee has other plans.
“While I have received assurances from Tennis Australia that I will be nominated for the Olympic team, the AOC has chosen to publicly and privately disparage me.
“Not one member of the AOC has reached out to me, my family, my team, or representatives of Tennis Australia, asking for a meeting or the opportunity to discuss their concerns.
“The AOC’s unwarranted attacks on me demonstrate the organisation’s inability to understand the circumstances surrounding highly competitive sports.
“I also don’t want the AOC’s treatment of me to become a distraction and negatively affect the Australian Olympic team.”
Kyrgios, who once thrived in Australia’s Davis Cup squad, was initially named to make his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 but withdrew two weeks before they were due to begin.
He cited the COVID-enforced decision to ban spectators and a rib injury.