Nick Kyrgios has conceded he’s not as much as taking part in singles on the Australian Open, ruling himself out of a probable wildcard.
The native crowd-puller was tipped to obtain one of many three remaining wildcards from Tennis Australia.
However he introduced on social media on Friday he would solely play doubles with nice mate Thanasi Kokkinakis at Melbourne Park, with the event getting underway on January 18.
A number of wrist and knee surgical procedures have restricted Kyrgios to only seven singles tour matches over the previous three years, along with his rating plummeting to 670.
The 30-year-old’s most up-to-date singles match lasted simply 66 minutes — a 6-3, 6-4 loss to American Aleksandar Kovacevic on the Brisbane Worldwide earlier this week.
Kyrgios, who reached the 2022 Wimbledon closing, stated his physique was not but prepared for five-set tennis and wished the wildcard to go to somebody who might “make their second rely”.
Nick Kyrgios will nonetheless workforce up with Thanasi Kokkinakis for doubles at Melbourne Park. (AAP: Zain Mohammed)
“After some good conversations with TA, I’ve made the decision to deal with doubles for this 12 months’s AO,” he wrote in an Instagram story.
“I am match and again on court docket, however five-setters are a distinct beast, and I am not fairly able to go the space but.
“This event means the whole lot to me, however I would quite give my spot to somebody who’s able to make their second rely.
“It is all constructing blocks, and I will be again subsequent 12 months and pumped to compete.”
Former champion Stan Wawrinka, aged 40, seems a close to certainty to get one of many wildcards.
Wawrinka had already introduced this 12 months can be his closing season on tour, giving followers in Melbourne an opportunity to farewell the 2014 Australian Open winner.
Wawrinka confirmed he has loads of combat left in him with a gutsy three-set win over world quantity 27 Arthur Rinderknech on the United Cup final weekend.
Jordan Thompson, whose injury-plagued 2025 marketing campaign noticed him drop to 113th on this planet, and fellow Australian Chris O’Connell (114th) would even be deserved recipients.
AAP
