Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios says he is “contemplating retirement” and is no longer interested in representing his country at the Olympics.
Writing in the Nine newspapers, Kyrgios said on Wednesday that he was assessing his sporting career after knee and wrist injuries sidelined him for a year.
“The reality is, there is a part of me that knows my time in the sport may be over. And I’m OK with that,” he wrote.
“I’m at a crossroads in my career and have reached a point where life after tennis is a prospect that excites me. I know I can be one of the best in the world and win major tournaments – if my body lets me. The fire still burns, but it’s not my everything.”
The former world No 13 suggested he could instead “travel the world making really good money commentating on the sport, doing things like I am now with my talk show interviewing guys like Gordon Ramsay and Mike Tyson”.
Kyrigos said that life was one other people wished they had and “even the players on the circuit would love to be doing what I am doing now”.
The one-time Wimbledon finalist also declared he wouldn’t represent Australia at the Paris Olympics even if fit.
“One thing I will guarantee … I won’t be making myself available for the Olympics.
“I wanted to play for my country, I can’t say that I still have that desire. And let’s be honest, I haven’t exactly felt like Australia has wanted me to represent it either. I’ve said before, I often feel more at home away from home.”
Kyrgios hit out at his exclusion from the 2016 Rio Olympics, critising the way he was treated by the Australian Olympic Committee and the former chef de mission Kitty Chiller.
“For them to forbid me from representing my country for behavioural reasons is something that I just can’t forget.”
In the lead-up to the Rio Games, Chiller had said that Kyrgios’ behaviour on and off court showed that he did not “understand what it means to be an Australian Olympian”.
Kyrgios said on Wednesday he was “hoping” he could recover from his wrist injury in time for Wimbledon and the US Open “but that’s no guarantee”.
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“Sport is entertainment and I like to think that I’ve put on a show. But the curtain has to close at some point,” he wrote.
Krygios has been commentating at this year’s Australian Open and conducted the post-match interview with world No 1 Novak Djokovic after his quarter-final win over Taylor Fritz on Tuesday night.
Djokovic said Kyrgios looked “good in the booth” but said he hoped to see him on court again.
“Great to see you, looking good in that booth but looking better here, hopefully with a racquet also soon,” the Serbian player said.
Kyrgios late last year said he was “exhausted” and didn’t want to play any more. But he said he planned to return to action for a few years so he could go out on his “own terms”.