MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — If this was the last Australian Open singles match of Nick Kyrgios’ career — and, to be sure, it’s hard to know with him, no matter what came out at his news conference — the big-hitting, big-talking tennis player went out rather quietly Monday night.

Sure, Kyrgios delivered the occasional ace and his favorite sort of trick shots, delighting a home crowd as he usually does. But his much-anticipated return to Melbourne Park after two seasons filled with injuries and surgeries did not last long or go particularly well, and the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up was hampered by a recent abdominal strain while losing 7-6 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (2) to unseeded Jacob Fearnley in under 2 1/2 hours.

Afterward, Kyrgios said he doubts he ever will be back to compete in singles at his nation’s Grand Slam tournament, although he does plan to remain in the doubles bracket this year alongside countryman and good pal Thanasi Kokkinakis. They won the Australian Open doubles trophy together in 2022.

“I mean, realistically, I can’t really see myself probably playing singles again here,” Kyrgios said.

Perhaps that was something said purely in the heat of the moment.

It also can’t be easy for someone to accept where his body is at age 29 after having been at the elite level of his sport, someone who has beaten Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, someone who was a loss to Djokovic away from becoming a Grand Slam champion in singles.

“It’s hard,” said Kyrgios, who noted that he does plan to return to Wimbledon in June. “When you’re competing for the biggest tournaments in the world and you’re struggling to win sets physically, it’s pretty tough.”

He played a total of one singles match across 2023 and 2024, and had wrist and knee operations.

His most recent major tournament until now had been the 2022 U.S. Open.

When he came back to action shortly before the Australian Open — going 0-1 in singles and partnering Djokovic for two doubles matches — Kyrgios hurt his abdominal muscle.

“I’m one of the biggest servers on tour and I’m getting out-served tonight,” Kyrgios said. “I mean, Nick Kyrgios without his serve is probably not — I’m not a threat to many players.”

It was clear that he wasn’t feeling great and he was visited by a trainer.

Kyrgios said he did not want to stop playing, because he knew fans were there to see him.

He also wanted to try to soak up the atmosphere, in case there is no next time in Melbourne.

“I don’t know how many times I’m going to be back here again. That’s why I didn’t have headphones on; I wasn’t listening to music. I walked out there today (and) wanted to hear the crowd,” Kyrgios said. “There were some special moments.”

Against Fearnley, a 23-year-old from Scotland who played college tennis at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, Kyrgios hit fewer aces, 17-13, and had a slower average first-serve speed, 192 kph (119 mph) to 185 kph (115 mph).

“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,” Fearnley said. “I spent a lot of time watching him as I was in college, and even before college. He’s obviously a massive name, someone on the court I have 100% looked up to.”

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