Although Nick Kyrgios has been plagued by injuries over the last year, he managed to return for the first Major of 2025, the Australian Open. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned for the Aussie, who lost on home soil in the first round to Brit Jacob Fearnley on Monday, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, and 7-6 (7-2).

Kyrgios has been vocal about his plans to retire soon. In fact, this was only his second match since October of 2022 and his first Grand Slam appearance since the '22 US Open, where Kyrgios made the quarterfinals in Flushing Meadows. Following the defeat to the No. 92 ranked Fearnley, Kyrgios admitted this would probably be his last match ever in Melbourne.

Via Tennis365:

“It was special. Look, I knew that I have doubles, so I kind of was taking everything in tonight in those moments. It was nuts.I didn’t want to just throw in the towel and walk off or retire. I was hurting physically. I respect my opponent. The fans waited hours to come see me play.

“Realistically, I can’t see myself playing a singles match here again. I mean, Nick Kyrgios without his serve, I’m probably not a threat to many players. All the niggles, I guess my body compensating with the wrist is tough, but, yeah, it’s just not enjoyable for me.

“It’s not enjoyable to go out there and not think tactically and not think I’m enjoying the atmosphere, or where am I going to hit this ball. It’s like, ‘what am I doing to manage my body? This is painful. OK, I can’t do this because this hurts.’ That’s not tennis to me, that’s not sport.I go out there tonight, and I’m I’d say probably 70, 65% of my capacity, and for them to really see me fighting and still giving me that energy, it meant a lot.

“I feel like I’ve given a lot of my life to tennis, and I’ve tried to give them a show every time I go out there. And I know I didn’t do a great job tonight, but there were moments that were special to me that I won’t forget.”

While Nick Kyrgios had to recover from wrist surgery, he suffered an abdominal injury while preparing himself for the Australian Open. That hampered his play on Monday.

During his time away from the court, Kyrgios has helped out with ESPN's coverage of the Majors. It does appear he has a future in sports broadcasting if he wants it. As for the rest of this season? The 29-year-old still has his eyes on competing at Wimbledon:

“Hopefully, if my body’s feeling good, I’ll be able to make some noise at Wimbledon. Right now, the doubles, I’ll rest. Yeah, it’s just disappointing because I put in so much work.

“I knew tonight was going to be tough. With my physical state going into the match, I knew that I was going to be really hindered with my serve.”

An abdominal injury is far from ideal in a rotational sport like tennis. It especially affects Kyrgios, who relies heavily on his electric serve. Hopefully, he can get healthy and find some success as the '25 campaign just gets underway.