Nick Kyrgios has suffered a first round defeat in his return to singles competition at the Brisbane International.
Kyrgios returned to the ATP Tour after 167 days away at the Brisbane International, winning his doubles match alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis.
However, it had been even longer since he had played on the singles court, with his last match coming when Kyrgios was beaten by Karen Khachanov at the Miami Open in 2025.
Despite Kyrgios hoping to receive an Australian Open wildcard, he was beaten in straight sets in his first round match in Brisbane, before having a conversation with Daniil Medvedev in the locker room.
What Daniil Medvedev told Nick Kyrgios after his defeat in Brisbane
With under two weeks to go until the Australian Open, there is a lot of speculation about whether Kyrgios will return to his home Grand Slam tournament.
When speaking in his post-match press conference after losing to Aleksandar Kovacevic, 6-3 6-4, Kyrgios was asked if he still had his eyes set on an Australian Open wildcard.
This is where Kyrgios revealed that he had just spoken to Medvedev, who won his first round match in Brisbane, and had been given some advice by the former world number one.
“Yeah, look, this is a stepping stone,” said Kyrgios. “I actually just spoke to Medvedev in the locker room, and he’s like, look, you play one match every now and then, it’s not going to be the way you want it all the time.
“As long as, you know, I feel good and I’m going to be able to try and use it as a building block, that’s my goal obviously, and not just AO [Australian Open] but this year, for whatever this year holds, I do want to continue to play as much as I can, and we’ll see, yeah.”
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Nick Kyrgios explains what the difference is between now and 2022
With his varying injury problems in recent years, Kyrgios has been very honest about retirement and how it is a real possibility in the near future.
This is just three years on from the best season of his career in 2022, when Kyrgios reached the Wimbledon final and won the Australian Open doubles title alongside the aforementioned Kokkinakis.
When asked about the biggest difference between himself now and in 2022, Kyrgios went into great detail about the physical setbacks he has faced and drew comparisons to the likes of Juan Martin del Potro, Dominic Thiem and Kei Nishikori.
“I mean, I had a wrist reconstruction and two knee ops,” said Kyrgios. “I’m never going to be — I think it’s unfair. I use Thanasi as an example or myself as an example or Del Potro or Thiem or Nishikori, we look at some of these people that were at the top of their game competing for Grand Slams, and then you have parts of your body that just fail and can’t take the load of being at that top level. You know, that’s what happens.
“I mean, it’s so hard for me to go out there, even on the practice courts sometimes, and realize that even the thought — there was a point in my life in 2022 or when I was, you know, winning like multiple titles in a year, there was an ultimate, there was actually, like, a delusion I generally thought I was the best player in the world. I think people confuse it, when you’re at the top of the sport, I genuinely thought I was unbeatable. I’d go out on court, and I thought no one can genuinely beat me.
“You actually have that confidence and delusion that you are that person. I just don’t think that after you have these surgeries or I guess they kind of pull you down, and it’s like you don’t have that belief anymore.
“It’s sad, in a way, but that’s just the reality. Like finals of Wimbledon, quarterfinals at US Open, I barely lost a match all year, and then you have I guess these surgeries that — I guess the people out there, they think that, you know, you just go under the knife and come back and it’s just, you sit on the couch until he recovers and you throw him back out there and he’s the same player. That’s just not how it is. It’s not reality. It’s just sport.
“So you can’t be too upset. That’s why you have to really be grateful for moments like that doubles match the other night, and the fact that I got through this and I’m ready to play doubles tomorrow, I’m still extremely happy with myself and proud of myself.
“All credit, by the way, I think it’s selfish for me to talk about just myself all the time. Credit to my opponent today. He played lights out. You can tell that he’s new to the tour, locked in, excited, and he’s a hell of a player.
“You know, he’s going to be one to watch, for sure. He’s obviously had a breakthrough year last year and he’s going to continue to have big wins. I want to give my credit to my opponent, as well. It’s not like he played like s*** or something.”
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While Kyrgios is now out of the singles draw, he still remains in the doubles tournament alongside Kokkinakis.
The former Australian Open champions will play their second round match against sixth seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul on Wednesday, January 7.
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