Australian Open Director Not Confident Nick Kyrgios Will Get a Wild Card to the Tournament

Nick Kyrgios has not played a singles match this season since the Miami Open in March.

Australian Open Director Not Confident Nick Kyrgios Will Get a Wild Card to the Tournament

Nick Kyrgios (via X)

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Nick Kyrgios is back on the court after spending most of 2025 sidelined due to injuries. The former World No.13 recently returned and has been featuring in several exhibition matches in the United States of America. However, Australian Open director Craig Tiley has revealed that Kyrgios is not sure of getting a wild card for the first Grand Slam tournament of the season.

Last year, Kyrgios featured in only one Grand Slam and that was at the Australian Open. He was given a wild card to the tournament having missed the entirety of the 2024 season due to injury. The Australian star failed to make the most of it as he crashed out in the first round after losing to British star Jacob Fearnley.

Kyrgios is currently ranked World No.672 in the ATP rankings, having just played five matches this season. In fact, he has not played a singles match on tour since the Miami Open, where he lost to Karen Khachanov in the second round. His last match on tour was at the Citi Open in the doubles category, where he paired with Gael Monfils.

He played in the Garden Cup exhibition match alongside Tommy Paul, Naomi Osaka, and Aryna Sabalenka. Kyrgios entertained fans at one of the world’s most iconic venues, Madison Square Garden. He will also compete in another blockbuster exhibition later this month, as Kyrgios and Sabalenka clash at the Battle of the Sexes in Dubai.

Kyrgios will surely be hoping for a better showing in 2026, but the question will be how well he will perform. He can’t qualify to play at the Australian Open due to his current ranking, so he will need a wild card. During the last episode of The Tennis podcast, Tiley was asked if the Australian star would be given a wild card for the tournament:

I don’t know, we’ll have to wait and see. But he’s playing, which is good, he’s been playing events leading in, and I know he wants to play in the Summer. So if he wants to play in the Summer, it means he wants to play the Australian Open, but there’s still a lot of water that needs to go under the bridge. I think he’s beyond the period of a protected ranking, so he’s going to need a wild card to play as far as I’m concerned.

Kyrgios’ best run at a Grand Slam was reaching the final of the Wimbledon Championships in 2022, before losing to Novak Djokovic in the final. His second-best run was reaching the quarter-finals of the 2022 US Open. He has struggled to deliver the same level of performance he gave in 2022 this year.

Nick Kyrgios admits Aryna Sabalenka can beat him in their Battle of the Sexes exhibition

Nick Kyrgios’ Battle of the Sexes clash against Aryna Sabalenka has been one of the most talked-about ties since the ATP and WTA seasons came to an end in November. Several people have criticized the clash, claiming that it serves no purpose in modern tennis and that the match is not going to help women’s sports.

Nick Kyrgios, Aryna Sabalenka
Nick Kyrgios, Aryna Sabalenka (Image via X/HQ VITA, Aryna Sabalenka Archive)

But Kyrgios is more concerned about beating Sabalenka than what the critics are saying. During his interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored, the former World No.13 admitted that he knows that Sabalenka is dangerous on the court and that the WTA No.1 is capable of beating her on the court:

I am well aware that she is a very dangerous player for many men in the top 100, and I will need to give it my all to win. I have been going through tough moments in my career, and I have no doubts that Aryna is capable of beating me. It’s going to be a great show, and I am certain that it will generate much more interest than many regular season matches on the ATP circuit.

Sabalenka has dominated the women’s circuit for the past two seasons. She claimed the year-end World No.1 title for the second consecutive year. This season, she reached nine tournament finals, winning four of them, including the Grand Slam title at the US Open in September.

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