Nick Kyrgios boasts a career resume that hints at a Grand Slam breakthrough: Australian Open Quarterfinalist (2015), French Open Third Round (2015, 2016), Wimbledon Finalist (2022), and US Open Quarterfinalist (2022). Yet, the elusive major title continues to elude him. Plagued by a series of debilitating injuries – wrist, knee, and foot – over the past two years, Kyrgios has been largely absent from the tour. Whispers of retirement have circulated, but the enigmatic Australian is now eyeing a comeback. Will this be the year Kyrgios finally fulfill his immense potential? If he does, the Aussie has “ticked all the boxes” as per the Eurosport tennis analyst and seven-time Grand Slam winner Mats Wilander.

As per Eurosport, he stated, “So I think Nick has revolutionized the sport in a lot of ways by the shot selection that he’s chosen, because the players, they’re actually using some of the arsenal or the repertoire that Nick Kyrgios has. So maybe that’s why Nick thinks it’s boring. But we’ll always think that certain sports and athletes are never going to be appealing to all people. Now, here’s another statement:

If Nick Kyrgios goes out and plays his best tennis, and if Nick Kyrgios wins the Grand Slam, I think that maybe for the first time in history, a single player has ticked all the boxes that can be ticked, which is competitive, the level is high, the mental attitude is brilliant. And the repertoire and the variety of crazy shots and the jokes that he’s going to make, nobody’s done it all. And Nick Kyrgios has the opportunity to do it all.”

First, let’s recall 2015 Australian Open. 

That year, Nick received a direct entry in his home Slam because of his ranking. Facing players like Federico Delbonis, Ivo Karlović and Malek Jaziri, Andreas Seppi, in his initial rounds, the Australian tennis player lost to Andy Murry in the QFs. Still, he went on to make history at his home soil: first teenager to reach two major grand slam QF since Roger Federer in 2001, the first Aussie from any gender to reach the QF since Jelena Dokic in 2009, the first Australian male to reach the quarterfinals since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005. Seven years down the line, in 2022, he managed to reach the Finals at the Wimbledon. The very same year, he won doubles alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis in Australia.Will he be able to finally take a singles major trophy home in 2025 and complete the last piece of the puzzle? 

This time, Kyrgios wants to ‘shut up’ doubters with his grand slam win.

In an October 10 interview with News Corp’s Code Sports podcast, the Wimbledon finalist remarked, “I am coming back because something is keeping me around the game. I have beaten pretty much every person that has been put in front of me, made a final of a grand slam, won a doubles title in a grand slam, won multiple titles and made money. But I think the one thing that is now on my target is a grand slam. I think that will be the only thing that will shut people up at the end of the day. That’ll be my deep motivation,” he added.

A week ago, Nick appeared in the ‘Nothing Major’ podcast and touched upon his return and how he finds tennis boring at the moment. Per him, he can make it alive again.

Nick Kyrgios pulling “absolute riot” against Jannik Sinner

The career path of Nick Kyrgios has changed since 2013 when he won his first junior singles title. In 2015, he made headlines by winning his first home title at the Brisbane International in 2018. But this time, he is eyeing the major title on home soil. With that being said, winning the AO may also mean surpassing the best in the world, Jannik Sinner, at some point. And that needs a game plan, right?

“A part of me thinks why am I going to go out there and put myself in the pressure cooker of playing again. You have so many eyes on you,” Kyrgios told the Nothing Major podcast. “Especially with me, I feel like everyone is just waiting for that moment. I am going to mess up or do something crazy and it’s going to explode.” 

“So I have thought about why I want to put myself back out there but I feel like I have got a lot more. Let’s be honest I just want to go out there and I really want to play Sinner. I thought about this [the game plan].”

Nick Kyrgios has been a vocal critic of Jannik Sinner following the latter’s two failed drug tests. Despite their apparent dislike for each other, Kyrgios believes a potential matchup at the Australian Open would be beneficial for tennis. “I feel like why we love sport is because you have to have contrast in personalities,” he added. “If I draw Sinner in the Australian Open third round everyone will watch because it’s contrasting personalities, we don’t like each other and I think it’s healthy in sport.”

“If I played him in the Australian Open I would just get every single person in the crowd to get on him. I would just turn it into an absolute riot. All respect would go out the window and I would just do anything to win.”

With all the pieces in place, can the Australian finally conquer his home Grand Slam and complete his tennis legacy?