‘Five setters are a different beast’: Kyrgios makes Australian Open singles call

Nick Kyrgios has conceded he’s not up to playing singles at the Australian Open, ruling himself out of a likely wildcard.

The local crowd-puller was tipped to receive one of the three remaining wildcards from Tennis Australia. But he announced on social media on Friday he would only play doubles with great mate Thanasi Kokkinakis at Melbourne Park, with the tournament getting underway on January 18.

Multiple wrist and knee surgeries have limited Kyrgios to just seven singles tour matches over the past three years, with his ranking plummeting to 670.

The 30-year-old’s most recent singles match lasted just 66 minutes — a 6-3, 6-4 loss to American Aleksandar Kovacevic at the Brisbane International earlier this week.

Kyrgios, who reached the 2022 Wimbledon final, said his body wasn’t yet ready for five-set tennis and wanted the wildcard to go to someone who could “make their moment count”.

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“After some good conversations with TA I’ve made the call to focus on doubles for this year’s AO,” he wrote in an Instagram story. “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.”

Former champion Stan Wawrinka, aged 40, appears a near certainty to get one of the wildcards. Wawrinka had already announced this year will be his final season on tour, giving fans in Melbourne a chance to farewell the 2014 Australian Open winner.

Wawrinka showed he has plenty of fight left in him with a gutsy three-set win over world No.27 Arthur Rinderknech at the United Cup last weekend.

Jordan Thompson, whose injury-plagued 2025 campaign saw him drop to 113th in the world, and fellow Australian Chris O’Connell (114th) would also be deserved recipients.