‘Still fire in the belly’: Kyrgios announces return to the court after year on the sidelines

Nick Kyrgios promises he will be back on the tennis courts next week and is convinced he has the fire in his belly to make a successful comeback in a big way after his nightmare year.

The former Wimbledon finalist, who has played just one match on the ATP Tour since October 2022 while suffering knee and wrist injuries that required surgery, offered the most encouraging update yet on a possible return in an interview on the AO Show podcast. .

“I’ll be back on the pitch soon and give them a little more to cheer about, that’s for sure,” the 28-year-old said, when asked if he had a message for his fans.

“It has arguably been one of the most difficult years of my life, tennis-wise.

“Everything else has been amazing, I can’t complain about anything else. But when it comes to tennis, I’ve had some very difficult conversations with myself… like why am I doing all this? Like I don’t have to do it.” , but I’m doing it for some reason.

“So I know there’s still a fire in the belly, which is good.”

While rehabilitating, Kyrgios has enjoyed other projects, including a successful stint at the Australian Open as a tennis commentator on Eurosport, but said he was eager to return to his day job.

“I’m going to bat for the first time next week, so as soon as I get back on the field, I guess it’s all about starting, getting that load back through my wrist and my body,” he said.

“But look, I will definitely be back. It’s hard to put an exact date because the injury was quite serious.”

“I’m getting to the point in my career where I know I’ve been very successful and a lot of athletes don’t even have a quarter of that success, so it’s selfish of me to come back and demand to be that.” reach the Wimbledon final again.

“I’m going to take my time, come back and just enjoy being out there again.”

AAP