TENNIS star Nick Kyrgios broke down in tears after being forced to retire injured at Indian Wells.
The 29-year-old was trailing Botic van de Zandschulp 7-6, 3-0 when he called a medical time out.
He became visibly upset, wiping away tears while receiving advice from his trainer and a physiotherapist.
Citing wrist pain, Kyrgios then retired from the match entirely.
He later admitted: “This process has been probably one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in my life. In reality, it’s not too bad, but for my tennis career, it’s by far the biggest.
“Just the amount of work that goes in when I go back home or when I’m not playing, it’s not fun. I know that I can’t really be doing any more to try and get back and play.
“I guess it’s just the amount of work I put in and I’m still having so much discomfort in my wrist. That’s I guess why I got a bit emotional towards the end because it’s one of my favourite tournaments.”
Probed about his future in the sport, Kyrgios continued: “It’s all an experiment at this point.
“I was told I was arguably maybe not ever playing tennis again. [But] I feel I’m like right there. I feel like I can compete.
“I’m there, but if I’m not able to finish matches it doesn’t really matter at this point.
“I’m not too sure right now. I don’t even… I’m not sure how it’s going to pull up tomorrow.
“I want to go out there and I want to compete. If I really didn’t want to play, I didn’t have to rehab, I didn’t have to try and get back on the court. I want to play.”
Kyrgios, who won Wimbledon as a junior in 2013 and was a finalist in 2022, has now lost all three matches he’s played this year.
He suffered a defeat to Jacob Fearnley at the Australian Open followed by a loss to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at the Brisbane International.
Meanwhile, Van de Zandschulp is set to face Novak Djokovic in the next round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Saturday.
Read the full article here