It's been nearly three years since Nick Kyrgios has played in the Australian Open with injuries decimating his career since the 2022 US Open.
But the enigmatic Australian has been building fitness over the past few months ahead of a potential return to the sport.
Will he return to tennis for the first grand slam tournament of 2025?
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Will Nick Kyrgios play Australian Open 2024?
Kyrgios has committed to a tennis return at December's World Tennis League event in Abu Dhabi, which will be the start of his preparation for the Australian Open
“I am coming back because something is keeping me around the game,” Kyrgios told Code Sports.
“I have beaten pretty much every person that has been put in front of me, made a final of a Grand Slam, won a doubles title in a Grand Slam, won multiple titles and made money.
“But I think the one thing that is now on my target is a Grand Slam. I think that will be the only thing that will shut people up at the end of the day.
“That’ll be my deep motivation.”
Australian Open boss Craig Tiley says the star will be playing at Melbourne Park in 2025.
“We would love to have Nick back playing in 2025. We believe he will be – he’s out there practising and playing,” Tiley said in a press conference about Australian Open 2025.
“I’ve been in touch with his team in the last couple of days, and he’s fully expecting to play. We expect to see Nick on the court, playing.
“The confidence that we get about Nick playing is we know he’s doing more than he’s done before, we know that he wants to do it.”
Kyrgios hasn't played a professional tennis match since June 2023, struggling with wrist, knee and foot injuries.
His last Grand Slam tournament match was a quarter-final loss to Karen Khachanov at the US Open in 2022.
The 29-year-old has been building to return from injury, competing in two exhibition events prior to the recent US Open.
Kyrgios played mixed doubles with Naomi Osaka at the US Open Mixed Madness 2024 and then defeated Casper Ruud at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown in New York a few days later.
Nick Kyrgios ranking
Kyrgios is currently without an ATP ranking after several months of inactivity.
He previously held a protected ranking of 21 because of his injury problems, but that expired in March, 2024.
Protected rankings are granted by the ATP when a player misses more than six months of tennis because of injury.
Nick Kyrgios prize money won
Having been a tennis pro for nearly a decade now, Kyrgios has accumulated a tidy sum of prize money.
According to the official ATP website, the Australian has taken home US$12,478,415 in tournament winnings to date.
That sum includes prize money from both singles and doubles events.
