Nick Kyrgios was at the top of his game in 2022, when he reached the Wimbledon final and won the Australian Open doubles title.
Kyrgios is back on the ATP Tour after missing the majority of the 2025 season, with the Australian playing on home soil this week.
He is taking part in the Brisbane International, with Kyrgios having committed to both singles and doubles at the ATP 250 event, although he has just exited the former.
The former world number 13 will be doing his utmost to find form ahead of the Australian Open, for which he will need a wildcard to play.
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Nick Kyrgios named Daniil Medvedev as the world’s best player in 2022
Kyrgios fell in the first round of the 2025 Australian Open, with his quarterfinal exit in 2015 representing his best singles finish at the Grand Slam.
He could have enjoyed another lengthy run at the event in 2022 if not for an inspired Daniil Medvedev, who Kyrgios met in round two.
It was put to the Australian before their match: “You love playing on John Cain obviously. You’re playing Medvedev next, who is the highest-ranked guy at this tournament. They’re very unlikely normally to put him out on John Cain. Would you like to see that match on your court or on his court, basically?”
He replied: “I mean, obviously either way it’s going to be a hell of an experience for me. You know, he’s probably ‘the’ best player in the world at the moment.
“So I’m pretty excited, I’m excited for that moment. That’s why I play the game. I feel like those matches still excite me, to go out there and play the best in the world.
“That was always something I wanted to prove to people that someone like me could do, win those matches. I’m not going to go into it with a lot of expectation.
“I’m going to go out there, have some fun, play my game. I have a pretty set-in-stone game plan of what I need to do to have success.
“As I said, he’s probably the best player in the world, he does everything extremely well. He’s a hard worker, ticks all the boxes.
“I’m not going to even think about that now. To play it on John Cain would be… I’m just going to call it the Kyrgios Court… would be fun.”
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Daniil Medvedev was once a force to be reckoned with on the ATP Tour
Medvedev was indeed the top seed at the 2022 Australian Open, but only because Novak Djokovic was absent due to his well-documented visa issues.
And the Russian certainly lived up to his reputation, although he was pushed hard by Kyrgios in a 7-6(7-1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win.
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He also knocked out the likes of Felix Auger-Aliassime and Stefanos Tsitsipas before falling in the final to Rafael Nadal.
The Russian took the first two sets against the Spaniard, but somehow lost 6-2, 7-6(7-5), 4-6, 4-6, 5-7 in Melbourne.
He had entered the tournament as the reigning US Open champion, one of four ATP titles in his 2021 season.
Medvedev followed that by winning two titles in 2022, when he became world number one, with five titles secured in 2023.
Such numbers dwindled to zero and one in 2024 and 2025 respectively, with Medvedev currently ranked 13th in the world.
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