PA Media/DPA
Melbourne
Nick Kyrgios expects his straight-sets loss to Britain’s Jacob Fearnley to be his final singles match at the Australian Open.
The Australian played at Melbourne Park for the first time in three years following knee and wrist operations and fans once again flocked to his favourite John Cain Arena to be part of the show.
But Kyrgios was hampered by an abdominal strain and Fearnley kept his cool on a memorable debut to win 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).
While the Scot rated it one of the best experiences of his life, for Kyrgios it may have been the final chapter in singles at his home grand slam.
“It’s incredible to be back,” he said. “It was definitely not my best performance. But, look, full credit to my opponent. He played really well tonight. I was really impressed with his level. Hits the ball really flat, really aggressive.
“I knew tonight was going to be tough. With my physical state going into the match, I knew that I was going to be really hindered with my serve.
“But just seeing the fans line up for four, five hours, just the amount of people that were there supporting me, it was hard to throw the towel in. I tried to do the best I could with the state I was in physically. Obviously heartbreaking because I wanted to play well. I feel like my level’s there.
“Realistically, I can’t really see myself probably playing singles again here. It was special. Taking that in, it was pretty good. It was nuts.”
Kyrgios is still eyeing the rest of the grand slams this year, especially Wimbledon, where he reached the final in 2022.
He said: “It’s not enjoyable for me to go out there and not think tactically, enjoying the atmosphere, where am I going to hit the ball. It’s like, ‘What am I doing to manage my body, this is painful, I can’t do this because this hurts’. That’s not tennis to me. That’s not sport.”
Fearnley is a big fan of the Australian, and the 23-year-old knew he was not facing Kyrgios at his best.
“I could tell that there was some stuff going on with him,” he said.
“Obviously he wasn’t serving as he usually does. But it was really cool to share the court with him. If that is his last match, I was glad I was able to play him before he went out.”
This was only Fearnley’s third slam match after his meteoric rise up the rankings since leaving college in the United States last spring.
