Nick Kyrgios reveals plans for ‘miracle’ comeback at 2026 Australian Open after knee, wrist injuries

But the one-time world No.13 will play a series of exhibition matches next month against Ben Shelton in Atlanta, Tommy Paul at Madison Square Garden, the World Team Tennis in India and Sabalenka in Dubai on December 28 to gauge his fitness.

“Then if I get through all of that, I’m ready to go,” the tennis showman said at the announcement of his partnership with the Zeus Greek Street restaurant chain.

“I don’t know whether to call it a miracle or anything, but my knee feels like it’s gotten younger by a couple of years.”

Kyrgios has no idea why his knee has suddenly come good, but says he is finally free in his movement again.

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“I felt like something was almost like stuck or something was just a bit odd and then now, especially the last week-and-a-half or two weeks, I’m back moving and sliding the way I was moving in 2022,” he said.

“So something in my knee is just, you know I don’t want to jinx it, but something in it has gone, kind of allowed me to put three, four days of training together on court for an hour-and-a-half, two hours and be able to actually recover and then build on that.

“So that’s been really exciting and I haven’t really told anyone. I have a new lease on life on court.

“Honestly, I’m in a really good space at the moment and, physically, I’ve been putting in the work.”

The 30-year-old would require a wildcard from Tennis Australia to gain entry to his home grand slam, but that would seem a given.

“Look, it’s all very raw at the moment, but I literally told my agents yesterday there’s a chance that I would love to play Brisbane again in singles [too],” he said.

If he does return, Kyrgios will do so with modest expectations.

“There’s no f—ing like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna win this tournament’. Because after the last couple of months, I lost complete hope,” he said.

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“I thought my tennis career was literally coming to doubles, whatever, but I thought that that chapter was closing, where now I’m just optimistic again.”

Also reporting that his serving “wrist is amazing now” too, Kyrgios said it was too early to say if he would ever go deep at another grand slam.

“I mean, I’m optimistic with the way the way I’m feeling,” he said. “I genuinely feel like I could at least give myself the chance to get there because of the training.

“That was the issue. I wasn’t even able to train and build and even stack days together.

“It was like knee swelling, ice, rest, let’s get back on court, let’s do the basics. Where now it’s like, ‘OK, I can work on my forehand, I can work on match play, I can work on my returns’.

“I’m actually working on my game rather than my body. I’m training how I was in 2022.”

AAP

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