Nick Kyrgios was left in a flood of tears after retiring hurt with a wrist injury in his Indian Wells opener against Botic van de Zandschulp.
The fiery Australian’s future in the sport looks somewhat uncertain, with Kyrgios managing to play just one match in 2023 and missing the entirety of 2024 due to injury and surgeries on his right wrist and knee.
Kyrgios, a Wimbledon runner-up in 2022, has been attempting a comeback from his nightmare spell with injuries this year but was left incredibly emotional during a medical timeout against Van de Zandschulp.
The 29-year-old was unable to continue and abandoned the first-round match 7-6 3-0 down, taking his record to 0-3 across the start of 2025 as the outspoken star was seen crying by the side of the court in California.
Speaking after his emotional withdrawal, Kyrgios said: ‘It’s all an experiment at this point. I was told I was arguably maybe not ever playing tennis again.
‘[But] I feel I’m like right there. I feel like I can compete. I’m there, but if I’m not able to finish matches it doesn’t really matter at this point.
‘I’m not too sure right now. I don’t even… I’m not sure how it’s going to pull up tomorrow.’
‘I want to go out there and I want to compete. If I really didn’t want to play, I didn’t have to rehab, I didn’t have to try and get back on the court. I want to play.’
Kyrgios is next scheduled to play at the Miami Open from March 18-30 but his participation is now very much up in the air.
‘The time frame is not ideal, but I was scheduled to play so I will see how my wrist responds,’ Kyrgios added.
‘If not Miami, I will keep looking forward. I can’t keep looking back and being disappointed. Otherwise I don’t know how much enjoyment I will have in that.’
Kyrgios was on a collision course to face Novak Djokovic in the second round at Indian Wells but the Serbian legend will now take on Van de Zandschulp.
With Andy Murray working as his coach, Djokovic is targeting a deep run at Indian Wells to kick-start his 2025 campaign.
‘I’m enjoying the relationship with Andy,’ Djokovic said ahead of his clash with Van de Zandschulp. ‘I still feel like we are going through the process of getting to know each other on the court in a different way than we have known each other for 25 years.
‘So it’s obviously a new role for him. He’s also exploring it and trying to understand how he can excel in it. [At the Australian Open], I think I played maybe the best tennis that I played in quite some time. So I definitely attribute that to the work I had with Andy.’
