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Nick Kyrgios says Australian players have it tougher than their tour rivals and the stress of being a touring pro means he might retire if he can claim a Grand Slam title.
The 27-year-old Australia, speaking to Eurosport at the World Tennis League in Dubai, said the tyranny of distance made it extra hard on Aussie players.
“Especially being from Australia as well, there’s just so much travel, so much time away from family, so much time away from friends. You’re just missing milestones in the family, you’re just not having a normal life really,” Krygios said.
“No other tennis player that’s not from Australia gets that.
“It’s easy for a European or an American player to lose or win a tournament, then you take a five-hour flight back home and you spend a week there before the next event. Whereas as an Australian, you’re doing like four to seven months travel blocks. Honestly, I don’t think it’s healthy. No other real athlete does that in the world, in any sport. Doing seven months on your own.”
Kyrgios is aware not everyone will be sympathetic to his plight – travelling the world, making millions.
“People are like, why are you complaining about it or whatnot? It’s not what they think. You’re living out of a suitcase, at hotels, it’s not like you’re on holiday,” Kyrgios said.
“You’ve got to go to tennis courts, train; the lifestyle is quite vigorous. If it probably happens (winning a Slam), I probably would (retire) to be honest.”
Kyrgios was close to his Grand Slam ambition this year but lost to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final.
“It was probably easier in a sense where, if you’re winning, winning makes everything easier,” he said.
“I’m exhausted honestly. Just stressful. The more you win, the more success you have, the more demands you have off the court. People expect more from you. It’s been a stressful year that’s for sure. I probably handled things a lot better. A lot of stress, but it’s been fun as well.”
(Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)
Kyrgios, as ever, will have the eyes of his homeland on him when the Slam season starts in Melbourne next month.
Asked if he felt he would be refreshed for that tournament he said: “Probably not.”
“I’m kind of gearing for an exhausting couple of weeks to be honest. But I’ve just got to internalise it and just think to myself it’s just another tournament. Obviously it’s a lot more than just a tournament for a lot of other people around me.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. I’m only human at the end of the day, so I can’t deal with too much. I’ve got about three weeks from now until then to just get my body right, get my game right and feel good about it.
“I know I’ve got about a month and a half after that where I’m going to be at home before Indian Wells; I’m not going to play anything after that. That’s really what I’m looking forward to.
“I’m not even looking forward to before AO, I’m just looking to after it, I kind of want it to be over. Because I know how stressful it is for me personally to be in the spotlight. Just everything, even my days off are stressful. I’ll probably play doubles. I’m really waiting for it all to be over.
“There is a little bit of excitement but it’s probably 95 per cent stress, 5 per cent excitement to be honest.”
Krygios, meanwhile, will be one of the star turns of the new Netflix series Break Point that is to be released on January 13.
Whatever you think of him, the Aussie is box office.
“I feel like it’s the perfect thing. It’s exactly what tennis needed,” said Kyrgios of the series.
“There’s such a different aspect to tennis that people don’t understand. The different personalities. I think tennis is actually one of the only sports where there’s literally players from all over the world. There’s players and they go about it so differently.
“I don’t think people know behind the scenes how stressful it is. For instance at US Open, me going to sleep at 4:00am most nights after playing four-hour matches then doing media, then doing treatment, then barely eating before sleeping until 4:00am then doing it all over again. People don’t actually understand that and how vigorous it is and how much stress is on your body.
“Just the journey as well, with the team around you. The emphasis of having a tight circle and having those people you can trust is insane, I think that’s going to give a good insight.”
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic resume their Grand Slam title race in Melbourne but the Spaniard has set low key expectatations for himself for next year.
World No. 2 Nadal has 22 Slams to the Serb’s 21. They could be all tied up by the end of January with Djokovic – banned from laying last year when Nadal won – the betting favourite due to his record Down Under and his recent form.
Nadal says Djokovic deserves favouritism but believes it is an open field with the likes of US Open winner Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune in the frame.
“Obviously, someone who has won a tournament nine times is a candidate,” Nadal told El Larguero.“But there are many young people who push and they are open tournaments.”
Rafael Nadal (Photo by Frey/TPN/Getty Images)
Asked if it was his goals to win one of the big four tournaments next year, he added: “The objectives and the level and the tennis state will set my objectives. My objective is to be competitive in everything I play.”
The Spaniard will play the inaugural United Cup in the build-up to the first Grand Slam of 2023 while Djokovic has entered the singles and doubles draw at the ATP 250 in Adelaide.
Naomi Osaka became the highest-paid female athlete in the world in, earning a staggering $51.1 million ($A76m).
Six out of the top seven highest-paid female athletes were tennis players. Serena Williams, the legendary American who retired in 2022, was in second place.
Eileen Gu, a US freestyle skier with Chinese heritage, was the only non-tennis player to break into the top three. Emma Raducanu, Iga Świątek, Venus Williams, and Coco Gauff rounded out the top seven, all earning impressive sums of money thanks to their success on and off the tennis court.
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