Being an Aussie, Nick Kyrgios has revealed why he wants to RETIRE from tennis aged just 27 – as he opens up about missing big moments in his family’s life: ‘I’m waiting for it to be over’
- The Aussie superstar opened up about missing family milestones due to travel
- Kyrgios said every day was stressful on tour because of the isolation and heavy scrutiny
- Announced that he will retire from the game when he wins a grand slam title
Tennis superstar Nick Kyrgios has revealed the stress of missing family milestones because Australia is so far away from the sport’s biggest tournaments has left him wishing he could retire from the sport at the peak of his powers.
The 27-year-old shocked the sport this week by announcing his desire to retire once he wins a grand slam title and explaining his plans in an interview on Thursday.
He has previously spoken about how being away from his mother played on his mind as he played away from his family home in Canberra.
‘Being from Australia as well, there’s just so much travel, so much time away from family, so much time away from friends.
Kyrgios – pictured with his ailing mother Nill (right) and sister Halimah – said the great distance between his home in Australia and the tournaments he plays in America and Europe makes it difficult for him life so he wants to retire
The 27-year-old (pictured with fiance Costeen Hatzi) opened up about missing family milestones as she travels the world
‘You just miss family milestones, you don’t have a normal life, really,’ he told Eurosport.
‘No other non-Australian tennis player gets that.
‘It’s easy for a European or an American player to lose or win a tournament, then you take a five-hour flight home and spend a week there before the next event.’
Kyrgios explained that he was looking forward to being with his loved ones for six weeks after next month’s Australian Open before describing the impact of isolation and scrutiny that being a tennis star has had on him.
‘I know how stressful it is for me personally to be in the spotlight. Just everything, even my days off are stressful… I’m really waiting for it all to be over.’
His mum Nill says his kidneys have failed to the point where they are ‘very close to the end of their lives’ – and Nick has quit competitions to be with him in the past
One of the milestones he missed was the birth of his nephew George six months ago, but the youngest Kyrgios was there when he played in Dubai recently.
Her mother Nill’s kidneys were failing to the point where she said the organs were ‘very close to the end of their lives’.
She revealed that she hopes to receive a kidney from Nick’s father George if the two are a match.
As Nick came close to the men’s doubles title at this year’s Australian Open, his older brother Christos said their mother had had heart problems in recent years and had not been able to watch him as a result.
‘He’s a fighter. He has some heart issues and combined that with the increased tension of watching Nick’s fights, he hasn’t been able to watch them, even on TV, for the past few years,’ Christos said.
In September 2021, Nick pulled out of every tournament he was scheduled to play for the rest of the year because he wanted to be with Nill, also known as Norlaila, as she battled illness.
