Nick Kyrgios Makes Heartbreaking Realisation After Retiring From Indian Wells Tournament

Nick Kyrgios has described his retirement from the Indian Wells as heartbreaking, as the Australian continues to battle with injury.

Nick Kyrgios Makes Heartbreaking Realisation After Indian Wells Retirement

The controversial tennis star was forced to withdraw from his Indian Wells match against Botic van de Zandschlup in the third set.

Kyrgios has been dealing with wrist issues for an extended period of time and appeared to be experiencing pain throughout the opening sets.

During the match, the Australian was showing signs of his sparkling best, but the pain appeared to be too much as he withdrew from the match.

Kyrgios was visibly upset as he left the court and in his post-match press conference, the Australian spoke about his emotions.

He said: “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 probably been 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. Yeah, just the amount of work that goes in when I go back home or when I’m not playing, it’s not fun.

“I got a bit emotional towards the end because it’s one of my favourite tournaments, I love it here. I’ve had so many good memories here. It’s one of the best tournaments we have.”

During his career, the former world No.13 has reached the quarter finals of the Indian Wells on two separate occasions, doing so in 2017 and then 2022.

His recent spell in tennis has been torn to shreds by injury, as he was forced to have surgery on his wrist in September 2023 and missed the entirety of 2024.

Kyrgios returned to the sport in January 2025, losing in the opening match at the Brisbane International and Australian Open.

These injuries have clearly had an impact on his performances and Kyrgios spoke about the issues he has faced following the injury to his wrist.

Kyrgios said: “No one in the sport has had a wrist reconstruction and tried to play after that. There’s been players that have had wrist surgeries and nowhere near as bad as what I had.

“It would be nice if someone had this injury prior if I could just go there and ask them, okay, these are setbacks you were having. It’s all an experiment at this point. I was told I was arguably maybe not ever playing tennis again. I feel I’m like right there, I feel like I can compete.

“I had an amazing season, literally knocking on the door of a Grand Slam, and then you just get pulled right back, and now you’re going to start from – I literally don’t have a ranking at the moment, was out for one-and-a-half years, and I’m trying to work my way back.”