Nick Kyrgios ‘dreaded’ Wimbledon as Aussie admits he ‘didn’t miss tennis’ while injured | Tennis | Sport

Nick Kyrgios has claimed he was “almost dreading” returning to tennis after his long injury layoff as he admitted: “I don’t miss the sport at all.” Last year’s Wimbledon finalist has played only one match since last October because of a nagging knee injury and he was forced to pull out of the Australian Open at the last minute.

The world No 33 said there were still “some question marks” over his fitness before he faces wildcard David Goffin on Court No 1 on Monday. But asked if he had missed tennis during his absence, the Aussie said: “I wouldn’t watch too much tennis. There’s a couple players that I enjoy watching.

“If they’re playing, I might give a look at live scores. Every time Foe (Frances Tiafoe) is playing or Thanasi is playing, or anyone like this, I like watching. Obviously Grand Slam finals. I watched a lot of the AO (Australian Open).

“Seeing what Alcaraz has been able to put together in such a short period of time is nuts. He’s got such discipline and he just loves the sport. He’s fun to watch. He’s got so much discipline and so much desire to do well, but he’s got that showman about him, as well, which I like.

“He loves getting the crowd involved. He loves getting people chanting his name, which is pretty cool. But no, I don’t miss the sport at all, to be fair. I was almost dreading coming back a little bit. But it’s my job.”

Kyrgios added: “I think pulling out of the Australian Open was one of the hardest things I had to do because I generally feel like, with the tennis I was playing and with my Grand Slam experience, just the way I was feeling, I felt like I could win that tournament.

“Obviously from then I had to get surgery. It’s been brutal because everyone is expecting you to be the same player that I was straight away. That’s been really hard. Obviously I played a couple weeks ago in Stuttgart. I lost, and the criticism was enormous. My first match back, it was hard to kind of just be the same player that I was straight away.

“It’s been hard. Like, I’m trying to expect the same sort of tennis that I was playing last year, and I don’t think that’s fair at the moment.” But always full of contradictions, Kyrgios then claimed: “I’m extremely confident. I’ve never been a player that needs a lot of matches before playing a Grand Slam. I’ve always been kind of on the side of not playing too much.”

In the second batch of the Netflix series Break Point, Kyrgios revealed he contemplated suicide after losing at Wimbledon in 2019 before checking into a psychiatric hospital. He also revealed he wore an arm sleeve to conceal his self-harming. “It took me seven, eight years to be able to just open up about that,” he said. “I kept it very close to the chest for a long time.

“But I think it’s important. I think a lot of athletes kind of go through that. But just general people that go through mental struggles, I feel like it’s a bit better now. Especially males, I felt like it was kind of hard to open up, admit they were struggling.

“I feel very different to how I was feeling obviously throughout that period in 2019. Yeah, look, I guess I feel great now. Obviously, yeah, it’s hard because I’m putting so much expectation on myself. Compared to that time, I’m feeling a lot better.”