Nervous, excited, reflective… Nick Kyrgios is all of the above before his return in Brisbane | ATP Tour

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Nervous, excited, reflective… Nick Kyrgios is all of the above ahead of his return in Brisbane

The Australian faces off in a battle of aces in his first match since June 2023 in Stuttgart

December 28, 2024

As Nick Kyrgios looks ahead to his return to the ATP Tour for the first time in more than 18 months in Brisbane next week, the Australian can’t put his finger on his current excitement.

“Obviously I’m a little, I don’t know whether to call it nervous… When I was hitting in the stadium, playing against [Reilly Opelka] He’s also had a couple of injuries, I guess we just reflected… It was surreal to be back out there. I took it all in,” said the 2018 Brisbane champion.

“I’m very excited to go out there and play, just play tennis. I saw Novak in the gym, I’ll play doubles with him, so excited that I’m able to go out and compete again.”

Battling a debilitating wrist injury that caused him excruciating pain to do things as simple as turning a door handle or opening a car door, Kyrgios underwent secret wrist surgery in Adelaide in September 2023 at the hands of by Dr Michael Sandow at Wakefield Orthopedic Clinic.

According to a previous report by The Canberra Times, Kyrgios’ wrist injury could be traced back to a fall in 2015 at Indian Wells in a match against Grigor Dimitrov.

Years later, as the condition worsened, an MRI showed a complete tear of the scapholunate ligament, which provides important stabilization for the wrist, similar to the role the ACL plays in the knee.

“I had surgery 18 months ago [de la muñeca]. It’s been about 16 months. I honestly never thought I would play at this level again. Even going into an event like this, preparing, doing all the things right,” said the 29-year-old, who begins the season outside the PIF ATP Rankings.

In addition to the interest generated by his return in singles against the big server Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Kyrgios will pair with former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in doubles and has also generated great expectations.

“He kept texting me over and over again. I’m going to give him a little alms and give him the pleasure of playing doubles with me,” Kyrgios joked.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun. For a guy from Canberra to play with the greatest of all time in his hometown, in front of the fans, is something very special. When it’s all said and done, I’ll be able to tell people I played a doubles with him. It’s very special.”

Kyrgios said Saturday’s workout with the 7-foot-10 Opelka was an ideal test for his wrist ahead of his return match against Mpetshi Perricard, who averaged a tour-best 19 aces per match last season.

“It was definitely a step forward to return that serve from the training court,” Kyrgios said. “But it was good to go straight to the rhythm of the ATP Tour. He has one of the best serves. Testing my wrist against that… I play against Perricard, who is possibly the best serve on the tour. It was a good preparation”

“I booked Reilly a week ago without knowing anything about the draw, and he came out today, so… Really good preparation.”

The main draw of the Brisbane International presented by Evie begins on Sunday. The main draw of the ATP 250 in Hong Kong begins on Monday.