Australian’s disappointing performance in Brisbane could vindicate officials’ reluctance to hand him a Melbourne Park wildcard
N
ick Kyrgios appears set for little more than a peripheral role during Australia’s summer of tennis after a brisk, anticlimactic and – for fans of the 30-year-old – worrying defeat at the Brisbane International in his first competitive singles outing in almost 10 months.
The Canberran, who is recovering from knee and wrist surgeries and played only five times on the ATP Tour in 2025, offered little resistance against American Aleksandar Kovacevic in the first round at the Pat Rafter Arena on Tuesday. The 27-year-old American, ranked 58 in the world, breezed past the Australian 6-3 6-4 in just 66 minutes, without giving up a break point opportunity.
The match disappointed the capacity crowd in Pat Rafter Arena, who had hoped a first singles ATP Tour match since March for the sport’s self-styled maverick would springboard Kyrgios back to relevance, after a promising doubles performance on Sunday. Instead, it vindicated the ongoing reluctance of Australian Open officials to hand the former world No 13 a precious place at the Melbourne Park grand slam starting on 18 January.
