Tennis, Kyrgios: “I thought about suicide at Wimbledon in 2019”

“I ended up in a psychiatric hospital in London,” explains the Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios in the new episode of the series Netflix “Break Point”, anticipated by the newspaper The Australian and out on June 21st. The facts date back to the 2019 edition of Wimbledonwhen Kyrgios surrendered to Rafael Nadal in the second round. During that match the Australian wore a sleeve on his right arm to hide scars from self-harm.

Considered one of the best talents of his generation, Kyrgios he was the second and last player, after Lleyton Hewittto have beaten Federer, Nadal And Djokovic at their first meeting. The excellent tennis qualities have often been counterbalanced by the lack of discipline and serenity on and off the field, factors which however have not denied him the appreciation of the great champions of the past. Boris Beckerfor example, declared that he would like to train him: “I would take it as a challenge, I would like to try to understand him. He has an incredible talent, he just needs to be more relaxed”. Kyrgioshowever, is not of the same idea and still remains the only tennis player, among the top 100, not to make use of a coach.

The psychiatric hospital in London

“I drank alcohol, did drugs, distanced myself from my family and loved ones. I lost a Wimbledon and when I woke up my father was crying, sitting on my bed. That was the click, I was like ‘Okay, I can’t go on like this’. I ended up in a psychiatric ward in London to sort out my problems,” he adds Kyrgios.

Suicidal thoughts and redemption at Wimbledon: “Life is beautiful”

“I had suicidal thoughts, I didn’t want to get up and find myself playing alone in front of millions” of people, he wrote on his account Instagram in February 2022, talking about his own psychological health in 2019. “If you look at the photo carefully, on my right arm you can see the scars of the wounds I inflicted on myself. I was struggling to get out of bed, I was alone, depressed, pessimistic”, he had explained.

Since, Kyrgios he “completely bounced back in the right direction” to reach the final of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, at Wimbledon, in 2022, losing to the Serbian Novak Djokovic.
He returned to competition this week in Stuttgart after a knee injury in January. Not yet in top form, he was beaten by the Chinese Yibing Wu 7-5, 6-3 in just over an hour.

Kyrgios golden heart: “If you need help write to me”

In November of 2020 Kyrgios claimed to have suffered from depression. In a 2021 post he offered to offer support to anyone who felt oppressed by the expectations of others, the same difficulty he has faced in the past: “I was an overweight boy. The coaches and teachers told me that I would not get anywhere part. Now I feel I have proved him otherwise”.