Nick Kyrgios admits he is not ready to play singles at the Australian Open and will instead focus on doubles alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis
Nick Kyrgios will resume his Australian Open doubles partnership with compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis after opting not to play singles this year; Watch the ATP and WTA Tours live on Sky Sports Tennis and Sky Sports+, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app
Friday 9 January 2026 10:12, UK
Nick Kyrgios admits he is not ready to play singles at the Australian Open and will instead focus on the doubles event alongside his partner Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The Australian posted announced on social media that he had "made the call to focus on doubles" and was "not quite ready to go the distance" in singles.
Injury-plagued Kyrgios, who lost the first round of the Brisbane International earlier this week has played just six official singles matches in the last three years. He had been hoping for a late wildcard at Melbourne Park, which begins on January 18.
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The 30-year-old has suffered various injuries to his wrist and knees since 2022 when he made the final at Wimbledon and lost to Novak Djokovic.
"After some good conversations with (Tennis Australia), I've made the call to focus on doubles at this year's AO," he wrote.
"I'm fit and back on court, but five-setters are a different beast and I'm not quite ready to go the distance yet.
"This tournament means everything to me, but I'd rather give my spot to someone who's ready to make their moment count.
"It's all building blocks and I'll be back next year and pumped to compete."
His singles clash with little-known American Aleksandar Kovacevic in Brisbane was his first since March.
Kyrgios, who is ranked down at 670, has been a prominent figure on the exhibition circuit over the last month, not least with his victory over Aryna Sabalenka in their 'Battle of the Sexes' clash in Dubai, but he could not replicate that on home soil, losing out 6-3 6-4.
He plans to play men's doubles alongside Kokkinakis at the Australian Open, where they won the title in 2022.
Dubbed the 'Special Ks', Kyrgios and Kokkinakis reprised their partnership by winning their opening match at the Brisbane International this week.
It was the first match on the ATP tour in 167 days for Kyrgios, while Kokkinakis played for the first time since suffering a pectoral injury in January 2025.
The pair beat Matthew Ebden and Rajeev Ram 5-7 6-4 10-8 before losing in the second round to Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul.
"This is a stepping stone," Kyrgios said. "I actually just spoke to Daniil Medvedev in the locker room, and he's like, 'look, you play one match every now and then, it's not going to be the way you want it all the time'.
"As long as I feel good and I'm going to be able to try and use it as a building block, that's my goal obviously, and not just Australian Open but this year, for whatever this year holds, I do want to continue to play as much as I can."
Wawrinka handed wild card for last Australian Open
Stan Wawrinka has been awarded a wild card for the Australian Open as he begins his final season as a professional player before retiring at the end of 2026.
The Swiss player has won 16 tour-level titles, including three Grand Slam trophies, and rose to a career-high No 3 in the ATP rankings.
"It's amazing. I'm super grateful to receive a wild card to play the Australian Open in my last year on tour," said the three-time Grand Slam, who won the 2014 Australian Open.
"Special thanks to Tennis Australia and Craig Tiley for this amazing opportunity. I have so many great memories of the past 20 years in Melbourne. It's always special to go back to where I won my first Grand Slam. I'm really looking forward to it."
'Battle of the Sexes was pointless with women's tennis taking a hit'
Sky Sports' presenter Gigi Salmon was critical of 'Battle of the Sexes' clash in her column, saying it was a chance for Kyrgios to stay "relevant".
She said: "For Kyrgios it was easier to see why he would agree, out of the spotlight and with just five matches to his name in 2025, with only one competitive match win since the end of 2022, largely due to injury and sitting at 671 in the world it was a chance to stay relevant."
Salmon added: "The reason I called it pointless when asked for my thoughts on it, was I saw it as only lose, lose for Sabalenka, win the match and congratulations you've beaten the world No 671, who has hardly played in recent times, lose and 'oh dear the women's world No 1 has just lost to the world No 671, who only played five matches with one win all year'.
"For Kyrgios it's win, win - lose and he says he wasn't meant to win he has hardly played, win which he did and look at me I've hardly played yet I've beaten the best women's player in the world.
"While in the short-term women's tennis took a hit, with all those 'new' fans they wanted to bring into tennis wondering how does someone who has hardly played all year beat and beat convincingly the best player in women's tennis and what does that say about the women's game?
"I think people will move on and be happy to do so. Women's tennis rightly led by Sabalenka is in a great place right now, so while people may question her motives, I don't believe that any major harm has been done."
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