Nick Kyrgios has broken down in tears after his latest singles comeback suffered a major blow when he was forced to retire hurt at Indian Wells.
The injury-plagued Australian pulled out of the first-round match against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp due to a right wrist injury while trailing 7-6 (9-7), 3-0 at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday night.
Kyrgios, who had earlier held a set point in the first-set tiebreaker, became visibly upset while talking to his trainer before wiping away tears and walking over to Van de Zandschulp to concede the match.
“I wasn’t too confident that I was going to be able to play today, to be honest,” Kyrgios said post-match. “Two days ago in practice I had to stop my practice because I felt pain in my wrist. I felt like it was OK to take the court. Just got progressively worse … started feeling sharp pain in my wrist.”
The 29-year-old’s practice session at Indian Wells earlier this week was also cut short due to wrist pain, and he said at the time that he could not “catch a break at the moment with my body”.
Kyrgios would have faced Novak Djokovic in the second round with victory against Van de Zandschulp, but will now continue his battle to overcome a long-term wrist injury.
“This process has been probably one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in my life,” Kyrgios said of his emotional on-court reaction. “Reality, it’s not too bad, but for my tennis career, it’s by far the biggest.
“Just the amount of work that goes in when I go back home or when I’m not playing, it’s not fun. I know that I can’t really be doing any more to try and get back and play.
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“I guess it’s just the amount of work I put in and I’m still having so much discomfort in my wrist. That’s I guess why I got a bit emotional towards the end because it’s one of my favourite tournaments.”
The former world No 13 was also forced to withdraw from the first round of the Australian Open in January which prompted him to state that he had likely played his last singles match at Melbourne Park.
The Australian Open was Kyrgios’s first appearance at a grand slam since reaching the 2022 US Open quarter-finals, as his career has since been derailed by wrist and knee injuries.