‘I’ve Missed Tennis’: Nick Kyrgios

Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios has admitted that he missed playing tennis. He had had enough of tennis for a while but the hiatus made him rethink his position.

In the four and a half months where he has been injury-free, he has done a lot of gym work. It became a humbling experience for him, making him realise that he was lucky to be playing tennis for a living in the prime of his career.

Speaking to PlayersVoice, he said, “You obviously encounter issues when you’re physically healthy – fatigue, loneliness, the mental grind of life on the tour and all that kind of stuff – but the power to compete is still with you. You can choose to show up or not on any given day. It’s your call.

Losing that power for a while – where your body simply won’t let you play – is a very different reality. Whether you’re feeling driven to compete or not, playing isn’t an option.”

Kyrgios first began to have doubts after his match against Jan-Lennard Struff in the Davis Cup tie against Germany. He sufferer a piercing pain through his elbow and couldn’t straighten it.  

The Australian said, “It’s an issue I’d suffered throughout my junior career. It wasn’t managed as well as it could have been back then. I was often told to get a cortisone shot and get back out there on court. There wasn’t any structured plan around prevention.

I could feel the elbow as I was warming up against Alexander Zverev for my second match of the tie. But at that point – with the whole country watching and cheering the team on – I couldn’t withdraw. Not from a match like that.

I take a lot of pride in representing my country in Davis Cup. I play for my team.”

He was in rehabilitation since mid-February under the guidance of physio Will Maher. After Miami Kyrgios and his team contemplated hiring a physical trainer.

Ashcon Rezazadeh, a trainer who had worked with Victoria Azarenka, Dan Evans and Anthony Joshua was recommended for the job.

Then he inexplicably changed his mind before being convinced to give Ashcon a chance. Since then, he has not regretted working with Ash.

Nick Kyrgios continued, “Ash has made me enjoy going to the gym. That’s a bit of a miracle. I’m usually pretty hopeless with the gym, especially when I’m on my own.

We’ve worked on my glutes, my legs and my shoulders so I’m not just getting all my power from my arm and elbow. I’m warming up before going on the court and going to the gym afterwards. That’s a big change, too. I haven’t really done that since I had a coach in juniors.”