Nick Kyrgios has accepted the “unhappy actuality” that he won’t ever be the participant he was three years in the past after his current ATP Tour singles comeback match lasted lower than an hour.
The previous world quantity 13 defeated sharp-edged American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-3, 6-4 in simply 66 minutes within the first spherical of the Brisbane Worldwide on Tuesday.
It was Kyrgios’ first tour match since final March and his seventh in three years after wrist and knee surgical procedures noticed his world rating plummet to a staggering 670th.
The mercurial Australian reached the Wimbledon remaining and the quarter-finals of the US Open in 2022 earlier than bowing out of the tour, showing solely as soon as each two years and showing in 5 matches final yr.
He nonetheless hopes to earn one of many remaining three wild playing cards to qualify for this month’s Australian Open, and is upbeat however sensible regardless of his brief keep at a packed Pat Rafter Enviornment.
“I really feel good and I wish to use that as a basis,” he stated.
“I wish to proceed enjoying as a lot as I can, not simply at AO, however it doesn’t matter what occurs this yr.”
Kyrgios, who performed a collection of exhibition matches around the globe late final yr, hit simply 10 winners to the world No. 58’s 27 and regretted a number of free factors that led to uncommon breaks in each units.
“Fast match, however he is world class…he was fully knocked out,” stated the 30-year-old.
“He is a hell of a participant who’s locked in, and he is positively one to look at.
“It is a good constructing block. If I string some (matches) collectively, who is aware of the place I will be in six to 12 months.
“Proper now, I’m okay with dropping cash on the chin.”
Kyrgios admitted that his “delusions” of being invincible simply three years in the past have pale, however stated he was “not embarrassed” to confess that prize cash was nonetheless a think about his resolution to play.
“I actually thought I used to be one of the best participant on this planet,” he stated of his 2022 run.
“After you may have the surgical procedure, I assume they pull you down and also you don’t have that perception anymore, which is gloomy in a means.
“That is the truth. Individuals assume you are the identical participant whether or not you go below the knife or come again.
“That is not true. It is only a sport. You possibly can’t get too upset. That is why you must respect moments just like the doubles match the opposite day.”
Kyrgios, who will compete in subsequent week’s Kooyong Traditional, will stay in Brisbane to play doubles with Thanasi Kokkinakis, who received an thrilling match on Sunday evening.
He promised a “Kyrgios expertise” earlier than the event, and regardless of being hit with a cheeky underserve within the first set, he conceded after serving “half”.
“Me and Tanasi supplied extra leisure to the viewers than in earlier tournaments, so I gave them…the ‘Particular Ok’ expertise,” he stated.
He stated he was happy with the help he acquired within the event he received in 2018 and felt like he had turned a nook from the Australian crowd and media.
“My journey hasn’t at all times been a fantastic one,” he stated.
“Now, at any time when I stroll exterior, I’ve a lot enjoyable.
“I felt a whole lot of love there, younger youngsters singing songs and having enjoyable.
“I really feel like I am giving them an excellent present. And at some point, in the event that they love tennis, they will have the ability to play in that enviornment.”
Kovacevic, who completed the season on a excessive be aware attaining a career-high rating, admitted that Kyrgios was a tough opponent.
“It is powerful to strategy. Whether or not Nick is wholesome or not, we do not know what is going on to occur with him,” Kovacevic stated.
“And it is laborious to scout him nowadays as a result of he hasn’t been on tour for some time and hasn’t performed in any critical matches.
“I knew I used to be going to should be fairly locked in.
“To be sincere, I anticipated slightly extra by way of adversity.”
