Nick Kyrgios FINALLY reveals when he’ll return to top-level tennis – and when he wants to retire

Nick Kyrgios has officially announced when he will return to the court after a two-year absence – and revealed he only wants to spend a very short time in the game before moving on with his life.

Injuries have kept the former Wimbledon finalist sidelined for an extended period, leading many to wonder if he would ever return to the court.

Now the 29-year-old has officially announced he will return for the World Tennis League event in Abu Dhabi from December 19 to 22.

That will give him ample time to prepare for another Australian Open assault, where he has previously claimed the doubles title alongside fellow Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis. 

Kyrgios has been working as a commentator during his enforced hiatus from the sport and has previously spoken about his desire to retire early.

But he is coming back with a vengeance, posting a call-out to videographers to document his return and revealing he has a point to prove. 

‘I am coming back because something is keeping me around the game,’ he told News Corp.

‘I have beaten pretty much every person that has been put in front of me, made a final of a Grand Slam, won a doubles title in a Grand Slam, won multiple titles and made money.

‘But I think the one thing that is now on my target is a Grand Slam. I think that will be the only thing that will shut people up at the end of the day.

‘That’ll be my deep motivation.’

Kyrgios has overcome a series of injuries and is back in heavy training as he prepares for his comeback in December

Many thought Kyrgios might retire after he took up a range of commentary gigs during his two-year injury-enforced hiatus from tennis

Kyrgios has earned a reputation as a firebrand for his combustible nature on court, including being fined $166,714 by the ATP for a vulgar expletive-filled rage at the Cincinnati Masters and even dragging Hollywood star Ben Stiller into an argument with a heckler. 

But the Aussie insists he is misunderstood. 

‘I guess I was branded that just because I was a bit outside the circle of what a normal tennis player is,’ he said.

‘I don’t think I carry that perception with the Aussie public anymore. But at the start of my career, people thought I was like a murderer.’

Kyrgios could not resist taking another pot shot at his old sparring partner Bernard Tomic

With his return locked in, Kyrgios was also asked about his eventual retirement and his response was very different to the previous times he has hinted at hanging up the racket early. 

‘I’m far from done, to be honest,’ he said.

‘I’m in the later stages of my career but I still have one or two years left… I’m feeling extremely well.

‘I’m hitting for around three hours every day now. My wrist from surgery has completely healed and I’m feeling motivated.’ 

While Kyrgios is tracking well for a comeback, fellow Aussie Bernard Tomic crashed to a new low this week – with Kyrgios letting him know all about it.

Tomic has been grinding away on the Challengers tour for years in a bid to return to the ATP Tour and reached a final in the best run he had been on since 2018.

The Aussie was then destroyed in record time by American Learner Tien, falling 6-0, 6-1 in just 39 minutes, the shortest ATP final on record.

Kyrgios posted that score on his Twitter account with a laughing emoji in another jab at Tomic. The two tennis stars have been at war since Australia’s infamous first-round exit from the Davis Cup in 2016. 

The post that Kyrgios shared also included Tomic’s record ATP Masters loss from a decade ago, where he set the record for the shortest match in a 29-minute loss.