Nick Kyrgios hints at retirement after losing to Britain’s Jacob Fearnley

Nick Kyrgios expects his straight-sets loss to Britain’s Jacob Fearnley to be his final singles match at the Australian Open.

The Australian played at Melbourne Park for the first time in three years following knee and wrist operations and fans once again flocked to his favourite John Cain Arena to be part of the show.

But Kyrgios was hampered by an abdominal strain and Fearnley kept his cool on a memorable debut to win 7-6 (3) 6-3 7-6 (2).

While the Scot rated it one of the best experiences of his life, for Kyrgios it may have been the final chapter in singles at his home grand slam.

“It’s incredible to be back,” he said. “It was definitely not my best performance. But, look, full credit to my opponent. He played really well tonight. I was really impressed with his level. Hits the ball really flat, really aggressive.

“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.

“But just seeing the fans line up for four, five hours, just the amount of people that were there supporting me, it was hard to throw the towel in. I tried to do the best I could with the state I was in physically. Obviously heartbreaking because I wanted to play well. I feel like my level’s there.

Kyrgios is still eyeing the rest of the grand slams this year, especially Wimbledon, where he reached the final in 2022.

He said: “It’s not enjoyable for me to go out there and not think tactically, enjoying the atmosphere, where am I going to hit the ball. It’s like, ‘What am I doing to manage my body, this is painful, I can’t do this because this hurts’. That’s not tennis to me. That’s not sport.”

Fearnley is a big fan of the Australian, and the 23-year-old knew he was not facing Kyrgios at his best.

“I could tell that there was some stuff going on with him,” he said. “Obviously he wasn’t serving as he usually does. But it was really cool to share the court with him. If that is his last match, I was glad I was able to play him before he went out.”

He appears to have a knack for headline-grabbing draws given his second major contest saw him take a set off Novak Djokovic on Centre Court at Wimbledon.

Fearnley spoke ahead of the contest of a certain anxiety but he handled the occasion extremely well, and Kyrgios was soon showing signs of discomfort.

The 29-year-old began suggesting that he should not be playing through the pain barrier, with his complaints growing louder and the language directed at his team courtside becoming more colourful.

He forced a tie-break but Fearnley dominated it with a series of explosive forehand winners, and it was the same script in the second set, with Kyrgios twice calling the trainer.

The Australian pulled out the underarm serve and a few tricks but Fearnley was not to be denied as he became the fourth British player to claim victory on Monday.

“It was amazing,” said Fearnley. “Honestly, it was one of the best experiences of my life I think. It was really cool. Obviously I was extremely nervous. It wasn’t really until I walked out there that I actually was kind of calm.

“I think I kind of knew that I couldn’t really show any emotion because I felt that the crowd was just going to eat that alive. So I was kind of fighting to just stay composed and stay calm and not give them anything.

“It got so loud in there. It was tough, because I couldn’t even hear my coach, I couldn’t hear anything. That was actually probably more than I expected, to be honest. Especially in between first and second serves, it was quite difficult.”

Fearnley will take on France’s Arthur Cazaux next as he bids to reach the third round of a slam for the first time.