Australian maverick Nick Kyrgios revealed that his participation at the Australian Open would be limited to doubles during the 2026 edition of the year’s first Grand Slam event.
Kyrgios returned to the
court at the Brisbane International earlier in the week after an injury-ravaged three years, but the Aussie succumbed to American Aleksandar Kovacevic in his opening round.
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The fixture against Kovacevic was Kyrgios’ first singles ATP Tour match since March last year as the 30-year-old, who has been plagued by injuries, acknowledged that he can’t be the player he once was.
“After some good conversations with Tennis Australia I’ve made the call to focus on doubles for this year’s Australian Open,” Kyrgios said.
“I’m fit and back on court but five-setters are a different beast and I’m not quite ready to go the distance yet.”
“This tournament means everything to me but I’d rather give my spot to someone who’s ready to make their moment count,” Kyrgios said.
“Its all building blocks and I’ll be back next year and pumped to compete. See you out there,” he added.
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Following Kyrgios’ decision to sit the singles event out, the final three wildcards went to Swiss Stan Wawrinka and Australians Jordan Thompson and Chris O’Connell.
“To have the chance to play the AO at the beginning of my final year on tour means the world to me,” the 40-year-old former AO winner Wawrinka said.
Wawrinka, A three-time Grand Slam winner, captured the first of his titles in Melbourne all the way back in the year 2014, and will look to enjoy a deep run down under during his farewell season.
