Mark Philippoussis fires warning to Nick Kyrgios after Australian's knee surgery

• Tennis News
• ATP Tennis

Australian tennis legend Mark Philippoussis, 46, has warned Nick Kyrgios that he needs to "work twice as hard" following his knee surgery or otherwise he could find himself in a series of troubles. After sustaining a knee injury in the offseason and being forced to miss the Australian Open, Kyrgios decided to surgically address his injury.

Initially, Kyrgios was targeting to play again in March but he ended up sidelined until the first week of the grass season, when he played his first tournament of the year in Stuttgart. After appearing in just one match in Stuttgart, Kyrgios also picked up a wrist injury and he hasn't played since.

Philippoussis, the 2003 Wimbledon runner-up, had multiple knee surgeries and that's one of the main reasons why he retired early in 2008.

Philippoussis on Kyrgios' knee surgery

“As soon as I heard he was having knee surgery, I thought this was going to be tough for him because you need to be in a certain shape before you go into surgery which changes everything in terms of rehab.

After surgery, you need to be putting in the rehab work. I don’t know what he does off the court, and I think a lot of people have questioned his commitment as far as his training in the gym and on the practice court.

It doesn’t matter how talented you are, when you have that first surgery – especially being a big guy – if you’re not doing the right things (then it’s tough). You need to work twice as hard, and if you don’t do that, it could be an avalanche effect," Philippoussis told Australian media.

After withdrawing from the US Open, Kyrgios seemingly put all of his focus on being healthy and ready for the start of the 2024 season. Missing this year's Australian Open certainly wasn't easy for Kyrgios and there is no doubt that he will be looking to do well at Melbourne Park in January.