Nick Kyrgios struggled against Duncan Fearnley. (Image: Getty)
The brash words of came back to haunt him in the first round of the as he was beaten in straight sets by Britain’s Jacob Fearnley. Playing his first match at Melbourne Park since 2022 after an injury-plagued two years, the 29-year-old who prevailed 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 7-6 (7-2).
Kyrgios appeared short of match fitness, with his build-up to the tournament plagued by an abdominal problem that saw him with last week.
After his lethargic display, by stating: “Realistically, I can’t see myself playing a singles match here again.”
Before the match, the Aussie shared snaps on social media of the long queues of fans waiting outside the tournament to get into the stadium to watch him. And he claimed it was only the home support that prevented him from withdrawing mid-match.
“Just seeing the fans line up for four or five hours and the amount of people that were supporting me – it was hard to throw the towel in,” he continued. “It would have been really easy to just roll over but I tried to do the best I could with the state I was in physically.“
But his deflated demeanour was a far cry from his belligerent words in October. As he was preparing his long-awaited comeback, Kyrgios insisted he was out to ‘shut up’ his critics by landing a first major singles title.
Kyrgios was backed by a partisan home crowd. (Image: Getty)
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“I am coming back because something is keeping me around the game,” he said. “I have beaten pretty much every person that has been put in front of me, made a final of a Grand Slam, won a doubles title in a Grand Slam, won multiple titles and made money.
“But I think the one thing that is now on my target is a Grand Slam. I think that will be the only thing that will shut people up at the end of the day. That’ll be my deep motivation.”
Kyrgios made the final at in 2022, beaten in four sets by Djokovic. He followed that up with a quarter-final appearance at the , but prior to this month had not played a Slam since then having undergone full wrist reconstruction the following year.
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Despite the doubts over his future, he’s still due to play in the doubles in Melbourne alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis. The ‘Special K’ combination famously landed the title in 2022.
The pair have been drawn against compatriots Aleksandar Vukic and James Duckworth. That match is scheduled for Wednesday, the same day that Kokkinakis is supposed to be taking on in the second round.