Nick Kyrgios admits he has 'a lot of work to do' as he faces race ...

Published 09/11/2023 at 19:20 GMT

Nick Kyrgios has admitted he faces a race against time to be fit for the Australian Open as his injury concerns continue.

The 28-year old has been plagued by fitness issues over the last 12 months, having knee surgery in January and then being forced to pull out of the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open due to a wrist problem.

The end of the road is in sight, but the big-serving tennis star concedes he remains touch and go to make his home Grand Slam.

"I had some more setbacks after my knee coming back the first time. It was just not where I wanted to be and it was still causing me a lot of pain.

“I’ve been around the world with my rehab, seen some people that I hadn’t seen previously for my knee and getting different opinions.

"Obviously parts of other parts of my body were starting to feel sore and I was getting a couple of niggles here or there as well. My right wrist type of thing, just because I was compensating.

“From where I was prior to the surgery to now is a big improvement, so I guess that’s all I can kind of focus on at the moment. Just being really diligent with rehab. It’s quite a serious surgery where I just need to take my time. I need to be a bit patient. Just patience was the keyword really."

Kyrgios has only been able to step on court competitively once this season, suffering a first round exit at the hands of Wu Yibing in Stuttgart in June.

It has therefore been a frustrating period for the Australian, who had the best year of his career in 2022, winning the Australian Open doubles alongside close-friend Thanasi Kokkinakis and then getting to the Wimbledon singles final, where he was beaten by Novak Djokovic.

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However, he has now lost his ranking because of his fitness issues, although his high-profile status means some tournaments will offer him a wildcard, while he also has a protected ranking.

After the last 12 months, Kyrgios says he's now desperate to get back to it - and he believes he has what it takes to go all the way in the majors.

"I don’t just want to participate in tournaments," he continued, "because I definitely do feel like I’m a player who can compete for Grand Slams, so I want to be able to just make sure that I’m coming back with that hunger.

"Then just my health, I just want to take my time and be healthy and come back and give the people the tennis that I was playing in 2022.

"If I didn’t feel as if I had much left in the tank, I’d probably just hang it up. I still feel as if I’m in some of my physical prime. I feel like my level is still one of the best in the world. So it’s just belief in my game.

"I know what I’m able to do and I’ve got a lot of people around me and close to me that believe in my ability as well and I think that’s super important. I’m just going to take it day by day and just get back to where I was.”

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