Google News Nick Kyrgios: 'I didn't miss people or tennis, I stayed away from it for months'
by JOVICA ILIC | VIEW 3519
Nick Kyrgios was one of the leading figures at the last year's ATP Cup, scoring three singles victories before losing to Roberto Bautista Agut in the semi-final. The Aussie played only five matches in the rest of the season, reaching the Australian Open fourth round and retiring after the opening set against Ugo Humbert in the Acapulco first round.
As it turned out, it was Nick's last match of the year, as he went home to Canberra when the coronavirus outbreak started and remaining there for ten months. Spending time with his family and friends, Nick stayed away from the tennis court for four or five months and started training again a couple of months ago.
Kyrgios said that he didn't miss tennis or the other players outside a couple he likes. It wasn't easy for him to find the competitive rhythm again, achieving that step by step and working with Jordan Thompson, who joined him in Canberra.
Kyrgios will kick off the new season against Alexandre Muller at the Murray River Open, embracing his first match in almost a year.
Nick Kyrgios is ready for a fresh start after staying away from Tour for 11 months.
"I don't miss too many people on tour, to be honest, apart from all the Australian guys and a couple of good friends.
I didn't touch a tennis racquet for the first four or five months of quarantine. I wanted to get entirely away from it, and it was tough to start getting back into it, I'm not going to lie. I didn't miss the game that much, and it was a bit of a task to get into a routine, wake up and say, 'I've got the Australian Open around the corner, so I need to put some work in.'
I'm excited. I played a set with Jordan Thompson today, and it was fun to be out there. I'm not taking this for granted - it's the Australian Open, and I'm incredibly blessed to be here again. Everyone has done an amazing job to get it going, and I feel like we're keeping things safe, so I'm excited to go out there and play, and hopefully, I will have some good results," Nick Kyrgios said.
