Nick Kyrgios tells Louis Theroux the shocking amount of alcohol he was drinking during the worst year of his life – and what he told doctors who ordered him to seek help

Nick Kyrgios has opened up on how how his mental health struggles led to him regularly drinking ’20 to 30′ alcoholic beverages a day – even just before going out to take on 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal.

The 29-year-old Australian tennis star claimed he still gave the Spaniard ‘a good run for his money’ during their meeting at Wimbledon in 2019, despite stating he’d been ‘drinking like a fish’ the previous night.

In a wide-ranging interview on British journalist Louis Theroux’s podcast, Kyrgios lifted the lid on the extent of his drinking during that period before explaining that he had checked himself into a psychiatric clinic prior to taking on Nadal at Wimbledon.

‘You’ve been through periods of extreme depression, self-harm and even, I’ve read, suicidal ideation. Was 2019, was that the worst year?’ the broadcaster asked the tennis star for the Louis Theroux Podcast on Spotify.

‘Yeah, that was a bad period,’ Kyrgios responded.

‘I was just struggling with being who I was, it was hard at that time and I didn’t feel like ‘I could take a step back from the sport and kind of work on myself and get myself in the right headspace.

‘I was just playing and playing and playing and kind of dealing with everything. And it was a dark time. Like I was drinking and I was spiralling out of control and I was continuing to play and travel. It was a lot.’

Kyrgios went on to reveal that he would have ’20 and 30 drinks’ in an evening.

The 29-year-old (pictured with partner Costeen Hatzi) told Louis Theroux he spent time in a mental health facility just before facing Rafael Nadal at the All England Club

Theroux, stunned by the revelation asked: ‘In a night?’

‘Easy,’ Kyrgios responded, adding: ‘I’d drink like a fish.’

‘What was your tipple of choice?’ Theroux asked.

The tennis star replied: ‘Anything… vodka. Anything.’

‘Right, so it wasn’t just drinking, it was like fully getting loaded?’ Theroux asked.

Kyrgios delivered a quite remarkable response, telling the journalist: ‘Yeah, but then just wake up and play Nadal the next day.

‘Give him a good run for his money. It was pretty hectic.’

Over the years, Kyrgios and Nadal squared off against each other in multiple fiery and enthralling battles. They were also involved in a heated war of words at the Mexican Open in 2019 in which Nadal had claimed his opponent had ‘lacked respect’.

The Australian would go on to lose their meeting at Wimbledon in 2019, but stated that he had sought professional help in the days prior to taking on the Spaniard, revealing he left a mental health facility in order to play Nadal.

‘At a certain point you, got some help, right?’ Theroux asked. ‘You, in fact, you were institutionalised, if I can put it that way… did you do some residential treatment?’

Kyrgios admitted he was ‘spiralling out of control’ and would drink ‘anything’ at the time

Louis Theroux (pictured) expressed his disbelief that the Aussie maverick dismissed doctors who told him to remain in a mental health facility so he could return to the court the next day 

‘Yeah, well, I did for one day and then I had to play Nadal the next day. So I didn’t really have time up my sleeve,’ he added.

‘So you went straight from, was it kind of clinic, a hospital, a kind of rehab?’ Theroux said.

Kyrgios replied: ‘Yeah, it was like that. Well, they wanted me to stay for a bit, but I was like: “I have other duties that I need to fulfil”.’

‘That’s wild,’ Theroux said, before Kyrgios added: ‘I nearly got him [Nadal] though. I nearly beat him.’

Kyrgios had beaten Nadal in Mexico earlier in the year but was unable to defeat the Spaniard in London, suffering a 3-6 6-3 6-7 6-7 defeat. Despite their battles over the years, Kyrgios recently heaped praise on Nadal after the Spaniard had announced his retirement.

He has only played once professionally in the past two years, with the Australian enduring a spate of injuries, including a torn knee ligament and a ruptured wrist ligament, that have kept him sidelined for the entirety of 2024.

‘Do you feel like in a good place generally now?’ Theroux asked again.

‘No, I mean, I fight it most days,’ Kyrgios replied.

‘Like, I don’t wake up feeling amazing… I feel like I know my steps to get me out of my bad thinking now.

‘I feel like I could go back into those habits in an instant. That’s how it feels. I feel like I could do those things, but I don’t want to.

Kyrgios (pictured last month) is by no means out of the woods when it comes to his mental health, admitting he still has to fight his demons ‘most days’

‘Like, before, I didn’t have any resistance. I don’t want to do that now.’

Theroux pressed Kyrgios on drinking on the ATP tour, asking whether he’d end up drinking on his own or was joined by other players.

Kyrgios responded: ‘Most of the time, yeah. Sometimes, if another player or something wanted to, but rarely, very rarely.’

Andy Murray said he had ‘taken the Australian star’ under his wing when he noticed that the 29-year-old had been through periods of self-harm.

Kyrgios even wore a sleeve once over his forearms at Wimbledon to cover up some of his scars.

‘[Did] it feel at the time like that was another way of kind of relieving your stress?’ Theroux asked.

Kyrgios responded: ‘No, it was horrible. I mean, I almost like kind of enjoyed feeling that way. And that’s when I knew I had to get out of it.’

In the past year Kyrgios has been dipping his toes into media and broadcasting work, and has impressed with his insights. 

He joined up with Eurosport earlier this year for their coverage of the Australian Open before going on to work with the BBC at Wimbledon.

The Australian recently revealed his plan to return to the sport, claiming that he wants to ‘shut people up’ by winning a Grand Slam title.

He is due to make his long-awaited comeback at the World Tennis League event in Abu Dhabi this December.