Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Emotional Nick Kyrgios Forced to Retire With Wrist Injury in Indian Wells

Originally posted on Last Word On Sports
By Nurein Ahmed | Last updated Mar 6, 2025 11:28 PM ET

Nick Kyrgios’ first match in two months ended in retirement. In his first-round match at the 2025 BNP Paribas Open, the fiery Australian experienced a flare-up of the wrist injury that plagued his career for the last two years.

Emotional Kyrgios forced to retire in Indian Wells

Kyrgios started the match brightly, holding serve and conjuring three break points in the second game. But after his opponent, Botic van de Zandschulp saved them all and got on the board, the pressure was back on Kyrgios.

The 29-year-old, who entered the event with a protected ranking, was broken twice in his next two service games and trailed 1-4. A couple of loose games by van de Zandschulp gave Kyrgios a route back into the contest, and in the blink of an eye, parity was restored on the scoreline.

With the set staying on serve in the next four games, a tie-break settled matters. Kygios did well to save the first set point of the match at 5-6 and had a set point of his own, but eventually lost the breaker 7-9.

Two games into the second set, the writing was on the wall. After losing serve, Kyrgios was seen holding his right wrist and wincing. He requested a physio, and throwing in the towel didn’t take him long. He was visibly in distress. This was a challenging moment to process after all the struggles Kyrgios had to endure to return to competitive action this season.

Difficult scenes

An emotional @NickKyrgios is forced to retire 7-6 3-0 down to Van de Zandschulp due to wrist pain#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/wWL9ESesIY

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 7, 2025

End of the road for Kyrgios?

This was the same wrist Kyrigos had surgically repaired two years ago, which restricted him to just a few tour-level appearances in the last couple of years. Kyrgios ignited injury fears during his recent practice session in Indian Wells and had to leave the court when he started to experience pain. Many people thought he would withdraw from the tournament, but he opted to give it a try in the hope of having a pain-free moment.

That was not the case, as Kyrgios clasped his hands over his teary eyes after going down a break in the second set. He retired from the match shortly after, and the match commentators asked whether this was the last time we would see the Aussie in Indian Wells.

With his 30th birthday coming up next month, the thought that this might be his last-ever tennis match is a possibility. Kyrgios has previously stated that he doesn’t envision playing tennis in his 30s. Earlier this year, he referred to his wrist surgery as an experimental procedure, and he’s the first player to resume playing after this treatment.

A projected second-round match against his good friend Novak Djokovic is now off the table. However, the primary concern as Kyrgios trudges into another recovery period is whether he will be back.

Right now, nobody knows.

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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