After the highs of the 2022 season where he reached the Wimbledon Championships final, it has been a steep downfall for Nick Kyrgios. The Australian star has been on the sidelines for almost 18 months now and played just a solitary tournament last year. He has been a victim of knee and wrist surgeries and even had undergone three surgeries. However, the Australian star looks to end his hiatus from the sport and wants to come back strongly next year. During his time on the sidelines, Kyrgios received tremendous support from some of his best friends on the tour.

While Kyrgios shares an intriguing rivalry with most of the players, he is also good friends with American players like Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe. They supported Kyrgios while he was away from the sport and are looking forward to seeing him on the court again. During the latest episode of The AO Show released yesterday, Kyrgios opened up about the support from his fellow players.

He said, “I think whether a player wants me to come back, that’s one thing but the sport needs it. I don’t think there will be too many happy faces back on tour. I had a lot of friends but also had people with whom I didn’t get along with which I think is pretty normal in sport. There’s been plenty of support, the American players I’m pretty close with and they gave me a lot of support as well.”

Kyrgios hasn’t hidden the fact that the likes of Shelton and Tiafoe are his best friends. Tiafoe and Kyrgios in particular share a common love for the NBA which made their bond even stronger. Tiafoe once opened up on their common passion for basketball, saying, “That’s all we talk about. I don’t think we have talked tennis in the last three years. That’s pretty much all we talk about. He’s a big Boston Celtics fan. Couple years ago when the Celts got us in seven, I mean, he didn’t shut up for, like — man, our relationship was almost done (smiling). Never been that pissed ever. Yeah, obviously he’s a huge fan.”

Meanwhile, Kyrgios is readying for a comeback next year after overcoming wrist and ankle injuries. The Australian star received a massive boost from Novak Djokovic which gave him the confidence to return to the sport.

How did Novak Djokovic inspire Nick Kyrgios to make a comeback?

Over the past few months, Kyrgios has been in the rehabilitation stage and has returned to the court steadily. While he was in cast for around 4 months, the Australian star has returned back to light training. However, the actual push was provided by Djokovic after one of their training sessions together.

Talking about this, Kyrgios said, “I was hitting with Novak and when he said to me, ‘It doesn’t look like you’ve had surgery. And that was a big motivation to say like maybe I’m actually making some inroads and some progress into getting back because I didn’t really know. That was a big drive for me… so, if he didn’t say that, I don’t know if I would have been motivated and if I would have kept pushing on the thought, but that was definitely a big part of the journey when he said that to me.”

The Australian star will potentially make a comeback at the Brisbane International. Subsequently, he also plans to play in the Australian Open and begin his comeback on a positive note.