Nick Kyrgios playing Wimbledon this year is the final part of the line up announcement we are waiting to hear. But as the star is yet to confirm his appearance, we take a look at why.
With Wimbledon late in 2023, this offers the competitors a little extra time to recover from recent tournaments before taking to the London courts. Most of the key players have confirmed their appearance, with the exception of Nick Kyrgios, who is currently holding out. British hopeful Emma Raducanu has sadly withdrawn from the tournament due to needing several surgeries. Fellow Brit veteran player Andy Murray has missed out on seeding for the Championships, amid rumours this could be his last time playing the iconic grass courts.
Kyrgios has made the Wimbledon finals during his career, but is yet to win a Grand Slam title. There is no doubt he will covet the Wimbledon trophy, but why is he holding out on confirming his appearance at SW19? Read on to find out.
Is Nick Kyrgios playing Wimbledon this year?
Nick Kyrgios is suffering from a knee injury, and currently unable to fully commit to a Wimbledon 2023 appearance.
The 28-year-old tennis ace withdrew from the Mallorca Open due to the injury, and was unable to take part in the Halle Open for the same reason. According to Pundit Feed, Kyrgios' manager, Danial Horsfall, has said he is 'desperate' to compete at Wimbledon this year, despite his knee injury taking more time to heal than he'd anticipated. His team believe that he will make it to Wimbledon, and Kyrgios himself feels pulling out of the other tournaments has given him the best chance.
Unfortunately Nick Kyrgios (left knee) withdraws from singles. Get well soon Nick! He is replaced by Aslan Karatsev. (Lucky Loser) #TWO23 #TerraWortmannOpen #Tennis #ATP #ATP500 #ATPTour #HalleWestfalen 📸TERRA WORTMANN OPEN/HalleWestfalen pic.twitter.com/4bw5iFxO8pJune 19, 2023
In a video shared to the Halle Open Twitter page, Kyrgios can be seen saying "Very unfortunate news, I won't be able to compete at Halle this year. I'm still dealing with a couple of things from my knee, and just trying to give myself the best opportunity to compete at Wimbledon."
He continued to add "As you all know, that tournament means a lot to me and I just want to do everything right by my body, and I didn't want to go out there and not give you the same performance I gave you last year." Having been beaten in the final last year by Novak Djokovic, Kyrgios will want to be in full health for another chance to clinch the coveted Wimbledon title.
How long has Nick Kyrgios been playing?
Nick Kyrgios began his professional career in 2013, meaning he has been playing pro tennis for a decade.
As a young teen, he was interested in both tennis and basketball. He played his first junior tennis match at the age of 13, before choosing to focus solely on tennis at the age of 14. His first ITF junior tour title came in Fiji in 2010, at the age of 15. By 2013, he had achieved world number 1 junior ranking and a week later won his first Grand Slam title - this is a feat he has been unable to replicate in his adult career. Alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis, the pair won the Wimbledon junior doubles title in the same year.
Kyrgios has previously opened up about how hard life has been away from his family, and the impact choosing tennis as a career has had on him. In an interview with Tennis 365, he said "My relationship with my family wasn’t great a few years ago because I was always away and didn’t have my family around me."
He added "I was winning, losing, going through relationship problems, dealing with other problems and I was pushing them away because you feel like the world’s against you. I pushed everyone who was close to me away and I fell out with people and that’s something I’d never want again. That’s why tennis is so hard in my opinion. The mental game is ridiculous."
Who is Nick Kyrgios dating?
Nick Kyrgios has been dating Costeen Hatzi since December 2021. The couple live together in Australia.
According to People, Hatzi graduated from Australian Catholic University with a bachelors degree in psychological sciences. She is 23-years-old and her Instagram account suggests she runs Style Studio Dress Hire, a company allowing customers to hire, wear, and return high-end designer clothing for events.
The pair met when Hatzi was selling a mirror on Instagram, and Kyrgios got in touch because he was looking to buy one. Hatzi recalls that when Kyrgios arrived to collect the mirror, she felt love at first sight, and they immediately began dating. She admits to not being a tennis fan prior to meeting her beau, saying at the start of their relationship "I never really watched a tennis game in my life, so yeah, this is all new for me."
On Kyrgios' 28th birthday, Hatzi shared a sweet snap of them together to Instagram, with the caption "Happy 28th birthday to my best friend. I can’t Thank you enough for everything you have taught me. You are one in a million and I’m so lucky I get to spend everyday with you. I love you beyond words & love all the memories we have created together. To many more birthdays, Enjoy your special day."
How many girlfriends has Nick Kyrgios had?
Nick Kyrgios has previously been in three high-profile relationships, prior to dating Costeen Hatzi.
He began dating Hatzi just months after splitting from model Chiara Passari, with whom he had been with between 2020 - 2021. The relationship was said to be volatile, with Passari accusing Kyrgios of assault. He was not convicted, but did issue an apology via Instagram for letting fans down.
He wrote "I wasn't in a good place when it happened. I reacted in a way that I regret. It's not right and I apologize for what happened. Mental health is hard. Life overtakes you. But with help and working on myself I manage to feel better."
Kyrgios dated Russian tennis player Anna Kalinskaya in 2020. Their relationship ended quietly, and Kalinskaya wanted to maintain some privacy over reasons for the split, refusing to engage in conversation about it.
Prior to dating Klainskaya, Kyrgios was in a relationship with Croatian-Australian tennis player Ajla Tomljanović between 2015 - 2017. Amid the accusations being made about Kyrgios against Passari, Tomljanović expressed annoyance at being grilled by journalists about their relationship, when they should have been asking her about matches.
Quite disappointing that after almost 2 hours of playing my quarterfinals that that was the first question the journalist chose to ask me, and never proceeded to ask anything match related. Glad to see headlines mostly about that now. Do better 😤 https://t.co/ygoUDe1XBbJuly 6, 2022
Slamming them on Twitter, she wrote "Quite disappointing that after almost 2 hours of playing my quarterfinals that that was the first question the journalist chose to ask me, and never proceeded to ask anything match related. Glad to see headlines mostly about that now. Do better."
In further tennis news, we've taken a look at who Emma Raducanu's parents are, and answer the question does she have any siblings? Emma Raducanu can also speak multiple languages, and opens up about what each one means to her. Fellow player Naomi Osaka's dating life became of interest recently, when she revealed she'd be missing this year's tennis season due to expecting her first baby.
