Nick Kyrgios believes that Andy Murray deserved to bow out of tennis “a little bit more gracefully” than he did when retiring earlier this year.
Murray retired in August after playing his final match at the Paris Olympics, more than eight years on from claiming the last of his three Grand Slam titles.
Australian Kyrgios, who hasn’t played a competitive match since June 2023 due to his own injury problems, said he currently has no plans to step away from the sport, but when he does call it a day, he hopes that it can be without the effect of injuries that hit Murray and Rafael Nadal, who will retire in November.
“I look at how Andy Murray’s doing it now, and how Rafael is going out, I don’t want to be like that either, I don’t want to be kind of crawling to the finish line in a sense,” Kyrgios said on The Louis Theroux podcast.
“What Andy Murray’s achieved in this sport is second to basically no one…unless you are Novak (Djokovic), (Roger) Federer, or Nadal, like, the next person is Andy Murray.
“It’s like you’ve achieved everything. You deserve to go out, I think, a little bit more gracefully than he’s done. I think that the surgeries, the pain, it’s just not worth it, in my opinion.”
Kyrgios, meanwhile, said he would have “20 or 30 drinks” a night as he battled with his mental health, and was “spiralling out of control” during a particularly dark spell of his life.
Recounting events in 2019, Kyrgios said: “That was a bad period, yeah.
“I was just struggling with being who I was. It was hard at that time, and I didn’t feel like I could take a step back from the sport and kind of work on myself and get myself in the right headspace.
“I was just playing and playing and playing and kind of dealing with everything. And it was a dark time. Like I was drinking and I was spiralling out of control, and I was continuing to play and travel.
“Twenty or 30 drinks (in a night). Easy. I’d drink like a fish. Anything, vodka, anything.
“Yeah, but then just wake up and play Nadal the next day. Give him a good run for his money.
“It was horrible. I mean, I almost like kind of enjoyed feeling that way, and that’s when I knew I had to get out of it.”
Asked if he felt in a good place now, Kyrgios added: “I fight it most days. Like, I don’t wake up feeling amazing.
“I feel like I know my steps to get me out of my bad thinking now. Like, before, I didn’t have any resistance. I don’t want to do that now.”
What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis?
- Hong Kong Tennis Open – WTA 250 (October 28 – November 3)
- Jiangxi Open – WTA 250 (October 28 – November 3)
- Merida Open Akron – WTA 250 (October 28 – November 3)
- Rolex Paris Masters – ATP 1000 (October 28 – November 3)
- WTA Finals Riyadh – (November 2-9)
- Belgrade Open – ATP 250 (November 3-9)
- Moselle Open, Metz – ATP 250 (November 3-9)
- Nitto ATP Finals, Turin – (November 10-17)
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