Is this goodbye? Nick Kyrgios suggests singles retirement after Australian Open loss

A “heartbroken” Nick Kyrgios has suggested his days of playing singles at the Australian Open may be over after a disappointing defeat in his long-awaited Grand Slam comeback.

The 29-year-old attributed his 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 7-6 (7-2) first-round loss to Jacob Fearnley on Monday, January 13 to a lingering abdominal strain.

Despite his struggle with injury, Kyrgios was able to force the opening set to a tiebreaker but fell behind 6-1 in the tiebreak, a deficit he couldn’t overcome.

After dropping a serve to go down 2-0 in the second set, Kyrgios received support from the crowd before consulting his trainers, citing an abdominal strain as the cause of his difficulties on the court.

There was some hope at 2-3 in the third set when Kyrgios fought through injury to break after four deuces and get back level, then held serve to love to lead 4-3 after a stunning behind-the-back shot.

Although Kyrgios secured a set point at 4-5, Fearnley served his way out of trouble and won out in the tiebreaker.

Following the loss, Kyrgios said he was “heartbroken” at being unable to perform at his best for the John Cain Arena crowd, admitting that he knew he “wasn’t 100 per cent going into this match”.

“Realistically, I can’t really see myself probably playing singles again here,” he said.

“I, kind of, was taking everything in tonight … I didn’t want to just throw in the towel and walk off or retire.

“I knew that I wasn’t 100 per cent going into this match.

“I’m not saying that’s why I lost. He outplayed me. He outserved me, he returned well, he did a lot of things amazing … he’s an in-form player.”

This was Kyrgios’ first major since reaching the 2022 US Open quarter-finals before undergoing surgery on his knee and wrist.

Following a prolonged break from the court, the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up admitted he doesn’t expect to return to Grand Slam level.

“All the niggles, I guess, my body compensating with the wrist is tough,” he said.

“It’s just not enjoyable for me … I’m happy to play through a bit of discomfort.

“But when it gets to a point where I’m one of the biggest servers on tour and I’m getting outserved tonight – my average serve speed was beneath 200km/h – Nick Kyrgios without his serve … I’m not a threat to many players.”

-with AAP.