{"id":389966,"date":"2026-01-05T22:45:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T22:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/389966\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T22:45:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T22:45:08","slug":"sicko-kyrgios-soaks-it-up-ahead-of-latest-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/389966\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Sicko’ Kyrgios soaks it up ahead of latest comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fit and philosophical, Nick Kyrgios<\/a> has promised the full “Kyrgios experience” ahead of his Australian return in Brisbane.<\/p>\n

A sucker for punishment, Nick Kyrgios is back in Brisbane attempting another comeback because he isn’t quite sure what else there is for him to do.<\/p>\n

Kyrgios will need to rely on a wild card to play in the Australian Open.\u00a0Photo by William WEST \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

“I am a sicko. I just love it all. I love everything that comes with it,” he said ahead of Tuesday’s ATP Tour return against American Aleksandar Kovacevic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know what else to do with myself, to be honest. What else do I do? Celebrity boxing?”<\/p>\n

The 30-year-old played five Tour matches last year, the last of those in March.<\/p>\n

He didn’t play at all in 2024 and just once the year before that.<\/p>\n

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The one-time world No. 13 has had four rounds of knee and wrist surgery in that time and is no longer on an injury-protected ranking, relying on wildcards as he sits at No. 670.<\/p>\n

There was sudden improvement in his aging joints late last year though and, after a string of exhibition matches to finish 2025, he’s back at the Brisbane International promising the full “Kyrgios experience”.<\/p>\n

It began alongside good mate Thanasi Kokkinakis<\/a> on Sunday night in an enthralling 92-minute doubles win that showcased their quality and quirks.<\/p>\n

“But even on the singles court, I do stupid things, and I kind of do whatever I feel like doing,” said Kyrgios, a Wimbledon finalist in 2022.<\/p>\n

“Not taking it too seriously, but also just locking in in certain moments. We are enjoying it, we had so much fun and it was at an incredibly high level.<\/p>\n

“(But) no-one else does as stupid things as me on the court, so that’s what I add.”<\/p>\n

Kyrgios is slated to play at next week’s Kooyong Classic and is still waiting to hear if he’ll receive an Australian Open wildcard.<\/p>\n

After a limp first-round exit a year ago, he insists he won’t play at Melbourne Park unless he is physically capable and says he’s at peace with whatever 2026 delivers.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know what my future holds; I’m literally taking it day-by-day,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Just to be a part of these events is special. When me and Thanasi play doubles together, we remember that this sport can be pretty fun.<\/p>\n

“It’s not always just injuries and competing and grinding.<\/p>\n

“Every good thing that’s come in my life has come from this sport.<\/p>\n

“And at the end of the day, it’s gone in a flash.”<\/p>\n

Countryman Alexei Popyrin<\/a> hopes to see a bit more of that mercurial talent this year.<\/p>\n

“It’s nice having Nick back on the tour; he puts tennis on the map really well,” he said. “Hopefully he can stay for the rest of the year.<\/p>\n

“He’s one of the most talented players, so I think if he’s mentally in the right space and physically is in the right shape he’ll come back in and will cause difficulty for everyone.<\/p>\n

“But we’ll see. (He) mentally looks like he’s in a good shape and, yeah, physically, we’ll just have to wait and see.”<\/p>\n

Kyrgios will play in Tuesday’s afternoon match after world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> opens her campaign on Pat Rafter Arena.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fit and philosophical, Nick Kyrgios has promised the full “Kyrgios experience” ahead of his Australian return in Brisbane.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389967,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-389966","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}