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Kyrgios was hit by a bus in Brisbane and was determined to keep going

The Australian reflects on his first tour match in 18 months

December 31, 2024

Nick Kyrgios knows a thing or two about big serves.

The Australian has one of the most devastating strokes on the ATP Tour and has faced some of tennis’s most renowned servers, including Ivo Karlovic, John Isner and Milos Raonic. Still, Kyrgios believes he just endured the toughest return match experience of his life against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at the Brisbane International presented by Evie.

“I obviously went into the game understanding how he played,” Kyrgios said of the fast-rising Frenchman, who scored 36 aces in the pair’s first Head2Head duel against Lexus ATP. “I already knew he likes to hit two first serves, but credit to him, he’s figured out what suits his style of play and he’s committed to it. He will definitely cause damage. He will have a long career.

“He has a simple action on his serve. There were no real drops in speed or anything like that… Thanks to him. He’s a damn good player. I’ve played against Karlovic, Isner, Raonic and all the big servers and he has by far the biggest serve. Yes, that was interesting. And it sucked.”

Despite losing to Mpetshi Perricard in the deciding set tiebreak, Kyrgios was also positive about his own performance after returning from an 18-month injury layoff. The 29-year-old, former No. 13 in the PIF ATP rankings, was happy with his level after competing for the first time since his wrist surgery in September 2023.

“For me it was honestly a great game considering I haven’t played in 18 months,” Kyrgios said. “It was exciting to put myself in a winning position. It was just good to be back out there and say that I can still play on an equal footing against someone like him who is having the best year of his career and is getting better and more confident and I came back and asked the question. He simply played a few important points better than me.”

Tuesday’s match against the tour’s biggest server was undoubtedly a physical test for Kyrgios, but that didn’t stop him from enjoying the emotional side of his long-awaited return to the ATP Tour singles scene.

“I missed the competition. I compete every day, be it a game on my phone or (whatever). “I love competition,” he said. “I have given a lot to this sport, and everything that has happened in my life is essentially thanks to this sport.”

“I’m going out there again, playing against such a top player, feeling super confident and even becoming an ace.” I was 2/4 behind in the tiebreak of the third set, the break, and I was still smiling to myself, in the heat of it all combat. If you asked me, my physical therapist, and my trainer who is here this week, eighteen months ago, he was feeding me fluffy balls on my wrist. We didn’t expect to play here again and at such a high level. We were literally just a few points away from winning.”

After also playing a first-round doubles match in Brisbane on Monday, Kyrgios admitted he felt pain in his wrist after consecutive days of play. Nevertheless, it is a good feeling for him to return to the court on Wednesday together with Novak Djokovic for the pair’s doubles match in the second round against the top seeds Nikola Mektic and Michael Venus.

“To be honest, yesterday after the doubles I felt like I had been hit by a bus. “I lay on the treatment table for an hour and a half before going to bed,” Kyrgios revealed. “But we know it will be that way. Even in doubles, you simply can’t reproduce the pressure and nervous energy of the game. You come back like these guys are professionals. The doubles boys served massively yesterday. It’s still reflexes and volleys.

“This is completely new territory for my wrist. Today, in my opinion, is another building block on the journey. I’ve gone from literally practicing with people who aren’t ranked in Canberra to competing against the biggest server in the world in a week… I think tomorrow is going to be a pretty tough day on my wrist to be honest. It hurts a lot at the moment. We expected that. I will do everything right and definitely play doubles.”