Nick Kyrgios admits he is not ready to play singles at the Australian Open and will instead focus on the doubles event alongside his partner Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The Australian posted announced on social media that he had “made the call to focus on doubles” and was “not quite ready to go the distance” in singles.
Injury-plagued Kyrgios, who lost the first round of the Brisbane International earlier this week has played just six official singles matches in the last three years. He had been hoping for a late wildcard at Melbourne Park, which begins on January 18.
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Highlights of Nick Kyrgios up against Aleksandar Kovacevic at the Brisbane International
The 30-year-old has suffered various injuries to his wrist and knees since 2022 when he made the final at Wimbledon and lost to Novak Djokovic.
“After some good conversations with (Tennis Australia), I’ve made the call to focus on doubles at this year’s AO,” he wrote.
“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.
“It’s all building blocks and I’ll be back next year and pumped to compete.”
His singles clash with little-known American Aleksandar Kovacevic in Brisbane was his first since March.
Kyrgios defeated world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in their controversial ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match in Dubai
Kyrgios, who is ranked down at 670, has been a prominent figure on the exhibition circuit over the last month, not least with his victory over Aryna Sabalenka in their ‘Battle of the Sexes’ clash in Dubai, but he could not replicate that on home soil, losing out 6-3 6-4.
He plans to play men’s doubles alongside Kokkinakis at the Australian Open, where they won the title in 2022.
Dubbed the ‘Special Ks’, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis reprised their partnership by winning their opening match at the Brisbane International this week.
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Kyrgios accidentally hit a ball kid with a forehand drive during his doubles return with Kokkinakis in Brisbane.
It was the first match on the ATP tour in 167 days for Kyrgios, while Kokkinakis played for the first time since suffering a pectoral injury in January 2025.
The pair beat Matthew Ebden and Rajeev Ram 5-7 6-4 10-8 before losing in the second round to Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul.
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Thanasi Kokkinakis got emotional after a winning return to the doubles court with Kyrgios…
“This is a stepping stone,” Kyrgios said. “I actually just spoke to Daniil Medvedev in the locker room, and he’s like, ‘look, you play one match every now and then, it’s not going to be the way you want it all the time’.
“As long as I feel good and I’m going to be able to try and use it as a building block, that’s my goal obviously, and not just Australian Open but this year, for whatever this year holds, I do want to continue to play as much as I can.”
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