he will be remembered as one of the ultimate failures

Nick Kyrgios has given a big hint that 2025 will be his final year as a professional tennis player, but will tennis miss one of the biggest voices in the game?

If you listen to the man who has done everything he can to plant himself at the heart of the tennis narrative, he has helped to take the sport to a new audience that are seeking out a rebel in what has always been a gentleman’s game.

Yet the harsh reality Kyrgios will have to accept as he prepares to join the ranks of former tennis players is he will go down as one of the great underachievers in the history of the sport.

When an athlete calls time on his career, they can be satisfied with their achievements if they have drained every ounce out of the talents they were given.

If that means breaking the top 100 in the ATP Rankings, winning an ATP Challenger event or claiming 24 Grand Slam titles like Novak Djokovic, the end goal should always be maximising your potential.

On that score, Kyrgios has failed time and time and time again.

Ask any respected voice in tennis and they will all suggest Kyrgios may be one of the most talented tennis players the game has seen.

When you consider he has been operating in an era featuring the game’s greatest legends – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic – it is quite a statement to suggest a player who has failed to win a Grand Slam singles title and reached a career-high ranking of No 13 has talent comparable to players who shared 66 major titles between them; it may seem farcical.

Yet Kyrgios could and should have been as good as them.

He had a bigger serve than Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, more power in his groundstrokes than all three and a presence on court that could strike fear in the game’s greats.

That explains why Kyrgios always performed when he was playing the ‘Big 3’, but he lacked a crucial element that would constantly halt his progress.

Mentally and emotionally, Kyrgios was a third rate performer who didn’t belong in the top 1000 of the ATP Rankings and while his talents allowed him to occasionally punch his way through big matches, those moments were few and far between.

When the spotlight was all on him, Kyrgios was a real threat, but his rankings and achievements in tennis ensured those moments were fleeting.

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His run to the 2022 Wimbledon final should not be seen as evidence of his greatness but more a jarring reminder that so much of his career is unfulfilled due to his own lack of professionalism and refusal to behave like a professional athlete.

As he lost what he confirmed will be his final singles match at the Australian Open against young British star Jacob Fearnley, Kygrios looked like a broken man as he faced the media, with the reality that the tennis show he has often believed evolves around him has already moved on from the brand of chaos he brings to the party.

Nick Kyrgios looks on at the Australian Open

“I didn’t want to just throw in the towel and walk off or retire. I was hurting physically. I respect my opponent. The fans waited hours to come see me play,” said Kyrgios.

“Yeah, I mean, realistically I can’t see myself playing a singles match here again.

“Honestly, the reason I kept playing, tried to play tonight, was because of the fans. As I said, I don’t know how many times I’m going to be back here again. That’s why I didn’t have headphones on, I wasn’t listening to music. I walked out there today, wanted to hear the crowd. There were some special moments.

“I didn’t think I was going to be back here anyway playing. I didn’t get a wild card. I’m here because I feel like I deserve to be here.

“It’s hard. When you’re competing for the biggest tournaments in the world and you’re struggling to win sets physically, it’s pretty tough. But I’ve still got a long year ahead. I’m trusting the process that I can still be able to do some cool things this year at some stage.”

“I’ve put in a lot of work. I think it was, like, I didn’t play a Grand Slam for 800-something days, 859 days or something. I continued to stay motivated through all those days when I was watching everyone else play, I was on the couch like in a cast. I stayed motivated.

“I trained. I was in the gym. I’m in good shape. All the niggles I guess, my body compensating with the wrist, it’s tough. Yeah, it’s just not enjoyable for me. It’s not enjoyable for me to go out there and not think tactically, enjoying the atmosphere, where am I going to hit the ball.

“It’s like what am I doing to manage my body, this is painful, I can’t do this because this hurts. That’s not tennis to me. That’s not sport.

“I’m happy to play through a bit of discomfort. When it gets to a point of — I’m one of the biggest servers on tour and I’m getting outserved tonight. My average serve speed was beneath 200. I mean, Nick Kyrgios without his serve is probably not — I’m not a threat to many players.”

Not for the first time, he spoke about himself in the first person after this latest much-hyped and brief performance in a Grand Slam and while we will get a similar publicity blitz ahead of his final appearance at Wimbledon this summer, the Kyrgios circus is now little more than a sideshow to the main event in tennis.

As has been the case for most of his career, Kyrgios’ brash words and his often nasty attacks on opponents have created more headlines than his tennis.

His constant attacks on world No 1 Jannik Sinner following his failed drug tests are the most vivid example of Kyrgios’ desperation to plant himself at the heart of the tennis debate, as he thinks he is a voice for the sport.

Yet he is anything but that. In fact, he has been more of a nuisance than an asset for tennis over the last decade.

He will argue his pulling power and profile are worth as much as a Grand Slam title, but only Nick Kyrgios believes such nonsense.

In reality, this maverick performer will be remembered for his flashy shots, spicy words, and ability to create controversy at will.

His tennis achievements will be little more than a footnote in the Nick Kyrgios story.

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