Rafael Nadal injury could lead to Nick Kyrgios retirement

Nick Kyrgios is different things to different people, and by that I mean he can be a fairly divisive figure. He certainly doesn’t keep his thoughts to himself, but that is partly what makes him a very promising long-term commentator on tennis. He was excellent for the Tennis Channel during the Finals and he will probably be fantastic for Eurosport and ESPN on broadcasts commentating during the Australian Open. But Rafael Nadal’s on-court hip injury might be the thing that makes Kyrgios retire.

Kyrgios has a long history of being injured. At times he appears to have tried to play through being hurt, but most other times Kyrgios seems to error on the side of caution and not risk himself to further injury. He only played one match in 2023 and does not appear close to playing in 2024. Possibly, Kyrgios is happier getting paid to commentate on tennis than playing tennis and getting hurt.

Rafael Nadal injured his hip in the second round of the 2023 Australian Open. He tried rehab and that did not work and decided on surgery last summer. He worked his way back to be able to play in the Brisbane International to begin 2024 and won a couple of matches before aggravating his hip in his third match. The “small problem,” as Nadal called it on X/Twitter, forced Nadal to withdraw from the Australian Open.

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Kyrgios said Nadal withdrawing from the Aussie Open “broke (his) heart” in a recent interview with the Daily Mail. But Kyrgios also talked about his own wrist injury and the long rehab involved to simply try to get back on the court to try to win Grand Slams. While Kyrgios has never seemed to be the most driven player, he does clearly love the sport and knows what he speaks when he works as a commentator.

Kyrgios told the Daily Mail, “Rafa is someone who is so important to the sport and it just takes time. It broke my heart seeing (Nadal withdraw)…I’ve been in the gym every day and when you’re injured people think you don’t do anything…I’m really excited and doing plenty of things off court, the positive is I can have a drink now and enjoy places like the QT Rooftop.”

That does not sound like a player who is ready to return to playing. Kyrgios is not old, but he will be 29 years old in April and he has missed a lot of time in his career already. Maybe he just wants to hang his racket up and get paid as a commentator. That might be a win for the player and tennis fans because Kyrgios is a fantastic watch during matches even when he is simply talking and not playing.