Nick Kyrgios lackseven more so when Wimbledon is approaching. It would have been nice to see him in the draw drawn on Friday: a loose cannon, certainly not on par with Nadal at the last Roland Garros but still capable of making Sinner’s potential path even more treacherous, for whom it could hardly have gone worse. The final reached two years ago is one of the last tennis memories we have of the Australian: then the victory in the 500 in Washington and the quarterfinals at the US Open. The end. For the rest, only four other matches played, of which just one in 2023, the experiences as a television commentator (which will also have a follow-up at Wimbledon) and many statements of dubious relevance. Among the latest, those released in April to the AO Show podcast: “The injury was very serious but I will be back soon”. We always thought the trouble was with his knee, since that was his last documented problem. Now we know that we always thought wrong.
Nick has in fact decided to remove the air of mystery that he wanted to maintain in the last year. He did it by allowing himself a day of… training – and this is already news – to the most important newspaper in his city, the Canberra Times. And now, “The secret story of Nick Kyrgios’ operation” has finally been revealed. Right in Canberra, in September last year, the Australian player underwent wrist surgery to repair a complete rupture of the scapholunate ligament: the one that guarantees its stability, the most important one in short. “Surgery was the only possible solution, not only to play tennis but also to ensure correct use of the wrist.” – Professor Sandow declared, later saying he was very satisfied with the outcome of the operation and the answers Nick is giving: “If you talk to anyone from the world of wrist specialists, they would be amazed. You simply don’t get these results”.
Recovery times usually take around 12 months, while Kyrgios returned to training with a racket in his hand in April after regaining sensitivity in his wrist with exercises used by musicians.. From Melanie Dinjaski’s service, the epic nature of the tests that good Nick had to and continues to overcome and his strenuous will to return to the circuit emerges. There is no doubt that the Australian really cares, otherwise he would not have tried to rush things or he could have even “taken advantage” of the injury to say enough and have some other fun. On the other hand, it is equally clear that Kyrgios wanted to build a narrative that was as fascinating as possible around his physical problem, starting from the decision not to reveal its nature immediately (or even shortly). And at Canberra Times they could not have done anything other than adapt.
Regardless, however, there is no shortage of interesting details, starting with the photo of the scar that ruined one of the Australian’s many tattoos. As regards the medical history of his wrist, it turns out that Nick had already had problems following a sprain suffered in a match against Dimitrov at Indian Wells in 2015. However, everything was under control until training in the pre-Wimbledon days a year ago when after one of his topspins he heard one of those cracks that don’t leave room for many interpretations. In the recovery process, then, there were also depressurized balls, from 25% to 75% until returning to normal ones.
The story features the figure of physiotherapist Will Maher and a harmony between him and Nick that is in some ways surprising given the conflictual relationship that the Australian has shown to have over the years with those who were part of his entourage.. “Without Will I probably would have retired last year. I can’t work with anyone else. My family and my girlfriend don’t really understand all the work that goes into it, whereas Will saw how much it took to get to the point where I was one or two sets away from winning a Slam.”. This is Maher’s point of view: “In 10 years of working with Nick, I have earned his unequivocal trust. I’ve never seen him so dedicatedbut there are good days and bad days that no one sees. My job is to provide constant calming energy because this sport is so frustrating that if Nick didn’t have that support, he probably would have given up”.
In conclusion, the question arises spontaneously: when will we see Kyrgios again in an official match? For now there are still no certainties. “It’s not a very common injury, so we’re experimenting with how much further we can push it – dice Nick – No one has ever come back from an injury like this before. At the moment the idea of returning to the field is still quite surreal“. The former world number 13 has however made a commitment with Patrick Mouratoglou to participate in the UTS end of August stage (Ultimate Tennis Showdown). The location will be New York so it could be an excellent opportunity to then also play US Open taking advantage of the protected ranking. Another hypothesis is that Nick chooses the doubles to regain confidence with the circuit in a more gradual and light way. In any case, and as always, it will be worth watching.
