From the dark waters of drugs and depression back up. Kyrgios returns to the tennis courts

He has already played the Wimbledon singles final. In doubles, he managed to win the domestic Grand Slam. However, Australian Kyrgios has also gone through a very dark period associated with depression, alcohol and drugs. The well-known tennis stormtrooper may have finally found the right setting and is currently making a comeback on the ATP circuit. What can we expect from him?

Nick Kyrgios started appearing regularly at ATP tournaments in 2014. He only celebrated his nineteenth birthday that year and two years later he was already celebrating his first triumphs on the circuit. However, his person has not only been accompanied by positive news over the past few years.

The Australian tennis player has also become famous for his boisterous nature. He was even punished in 2019 for his rampage on the court, which included assaulting an umpire at a tournament in Cincinnati. He has never matched the performance of the 2016 season, when he won four tournament triumphs.

Last year, the Canberra native revealed how tough he was going through. Kyrgios was plagued by depression, couldn’t cope with drug and alcohol abuse and even struggled with suicidal thoughts. The darkest period dominated the life of the tennis player of Greek-Malaysian descent for quite some time, culminating in 2019.

Kyrgios seems to have put this difficult time behind him. Last year, he was able to return to the courts with all his swagger. With close friend Thanassi Kokkinakis, he won the Australian Open in doubles and found an opponent on the Wimbledon grass in the final in Novak Djokovic.

Last year’s US Open brought a spicy duel between Kyrgios and Kokkinakis in the first round, Kyrgios won comfortably, during the tournament he also defeated, for example, Medvedev and finished in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, an injury and later a knee surgery came soon after. Today Autralan returns to the courts.

He can finally play

Kyrgios finished last year’s season at the top of the ATP top ten. Too bad he couldn’t build on his improvement at his home grand slam in January.

On the other hand, he returns in an ideal spot. “The grass season is always the best time of the year for me,” Kyrgios looks forward to the period of June and the first half of July, when tennis is dominated by tournaments played on the fastest surface.

Although the 28-year-old enjoyed time with his family during his enforced sporting break, he admits it hasn’t been easy watching the other tennis players in action. So now Kyrgios will finally get to make his tennis debut this year. And most importantly, he knows he has fought his toughest battle away from the tennis courts. Let’s hope it’s for good.

Source: Tennisexplorer, Tennisportal , Tennis-infinity