Nick Kyrgios is all set to make a long-awaited return to tennis in 2025, his native Australia. The 2022 Wimbledon finalist has been dealing with injuries but is now gearing up for the Brisbane International, a warm-up tournament for the Australian Open. The lineup includes big names like Novak Djokovic and 2024 champion Grigor Dimitrov. Kyrgios won in Brisbane back in 2018, clinching his fourth ATP title.

Recovery and Away from the Court

Kyrgios last played against Yibing Wu in Stuttgart in 2023 and has spent the past year and a half recovering from injury. Away from the court, he has been commentating and sharing his thoughts on fellow ATP stars. Before getting back on court, he looked back on an incident from the start of his career that made him laugh.

Father's Decision and Career Change

Speaking with Alexander Bublik and Patrick Mouratoglou for UTS, Kyrgios recalled his father's decision to switch from basketball to tennis. "It just happened so fast. I played basketball as well. Then my dad just said, we're going to stop playing basketball, we're going to play tennis, because it's easier. Tennis in Australia is huge, basketball was very hard to make it at all." His life quickly changed as he took the tennis world by storm with several huge victories. "Then I just played tennis. I was 19, I'd just finished school, and then I was playing a Challenger one day, and then I beat Rafa [Nadal] like a week later. That was it."

Recalling a Match with Roger Federer

Kyrgios went on to recall how he reacted to hearing he matched an achievement that the legendary Roger Federer had previously accomplished. "I won a challenger, and then the list of people who had won a challenger by like 18 or something, was like [Roger] Federer, [Grigor] Dimitrov, [Milos] Raonic. I laughed, I was like there is no way that I'm going to be like this, there's just no way. Bro, I played video games, I barely trained, I was eating like ****, then it just happened. I never dreamed of doing it, I just laughed."

Kyrgios and Federer's Rivalry

Despite never quite living up to his early career potential, Kyrgios forged several intense rivalries on the ATP Tour. He took on Federer seven times during their time together, and while the Swiss dominated the head-to-head 6-1, there are plenty of classic matches to look back upon.For example, in 2019 at the Laver Cup - RR, the score was 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, (10-7). In 2018 at the Laver Cup - RR, it was 6-3, 6-2. At the US Open - 3R in 2018, the score was 6-4, 6-1, 7-5. In Stuttgart - SF in 2018, it was 6-7, (2-7), 6-2, 7-6 (7-5). In 2017 at the Laver Cup - RR, the score was 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), (10-9). And in the Miami Open - SF in 2017, it was 7-6 (11-9), 6-7 (9-11), 7-6 (7-5).Their first two matches were perhaps the most intense. In 2015 on the Madrid clay, Kyrgios was a big outsider but took it to the eventual 20-time Major champion. After losing the first set tiebreaker, he battled back in the second to take things to a deciding set in front of an excited Spanish crowd. What followed was a marathon tiebreak, as Kyrgios eventually won 14-12 in the third set breaker when Federer hit his forehand wide.In 2017 at the Miami Open semi-finals, trailing 1-0 in the head-to-head, Federer was out for revenge. In another long tie-breaker, Federer clinched it this time, taking the first set after saving several set-points against the Aussie. Kyrgios returned the favor in the second set, winning 11-9 in the tiebreaker to take things to a decider. One final tiebreak followed, and this time Federer got things done 7-5 to secure the first of six wins against Kyrgios.