Nick Kyrgios was very emotional during his loss via retirement in the first round of the 2025 Indian Wells Open, and after the match, he explained why that was the case.
Kyrgios is a very emotional player, but tennis fans are used to seeing different kinds of emotions from him. The Australian is one of the players who are not afraid to break a racket or two, and he has had multiple moments when he clashed with umpires or crowds.
After all, regardless of what the emotion is, it’s safe to say that the 2022 Wimbledon finalist is an emotional player. But during the 2025 Indian Wells Open, fans witnessed a kind of emotion they are not accustomed to seeing from him on the tennis courts, and that was sadness.
Kyrgios is attempting a comeback after wrist reconstruction, but so far, it has not been going well. Every time he stepped onto the court, he played well during certain moments of his matches, but he still has yet to win a match.
He lost in Brisbane, he lost at the Australian Open, and he now also lost in Indian Wells. This time, it was a loss after he retired from his match against Botic van de Zandschulp.
Down 6-7(7), 0-3, the 29-year-old player consulted a physio, and after a brief discussion, he made the decision to retire from the match. It was in those moments that Kyrgios appeared to be crying, and he spoke about this emotional moment after the match.
The 2022 Australian Open doubles champion admitted that it has been exceedingly challenging for him to see no results from his hard work. He knows how much he works off the court, but he’s still not competitive enough or able to complete matches.
“It’s just more so, I guess, the amount of work I’ve put in to get back, and just to know that it’s not — like, I can play some, there are glimpses of some really good tennis that I can still play. I guess this process has been probably one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in my life.”
“In reality, it’s not too bad, but for my tennis career, it’s by far the biggest. Just the amount of work that goes in when I go back home or when I’m not playing, it’s not fun. I know that I can’t really be doing any more to try and get back and play.”
Kyrgios knows how challenging it is to come back from wrist surgery. He has seen the likes of Dominic Thiem, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Kei Nishikori struggle.
Kyrgios understands that the process of returning to his best self on the tennis court will be challenging, especially since he still feels pain.
“I know it’s going to be uncomfortable but I don’t want to feel the pain I was feeling. I’m okay to lose a match. I’ve lost matches in my career many times. I guess it’s just the amount of work I put in, and I’m still having so much discomfort in my wrist. That’s, I guess, why I got a bit emotional towards the end because it’s one of my favorite tournaments.”
“After the Australian Open, all I did was rehab, train, and then try and get ready for this tournament. I was two days out of the tournament here and I was having a great training session, and literally the second-to-last point in my training session I hit a forehand, I felt a sharp pain, and I had to stop playing.”
