Former finalist Nick Kyrgios bids an emotional goodbye to his Wimbledon career

LONDON (AP) — Former singles finalist Nick Kyrgios bid an emotional goodbye to his Wimbledon career following a first-round doubles loss on Wednesday.

Kyrgios and partner Alexander Bublik were beaten 6-3, 6-4 by sixth-seeded Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic in the first round on Court 17.

“I would probably say pretty confidently my last Wimbledon,” Kyrgios said, adding that toward the end of the match he was “looking around and taking everything in” and “it was tough.”

“It would be hard to see myself coming back here again and competing,” Kyrgios added.

Kyrgios was beaten by Novak Djokovic in the 2022 singles final.

“That final was always going to be one of the better memories of my tennis career, but I just can’t see myself getting back to anywhere near that level,” he said.

Kyrgios and Bublik were given a wild card invitation to the doubles draw by the All England Club.

“The wild cards are a very heavy, unreliant thing to plan schedules on. So I’m obviously super grateful for that opportunity,” Kyrgios said. “This has always been a venue and a place where I’ve played my best tennis. My career kicked off here and my life changed forever after that.”

Kyrgios has struggled with injuries in recent years and played only sparingly. He wouldn’t call it the end of his entire career or discuss whether he would like to say goodbye at the Australian Open.

“I’ve just got so many thoughts right now,” Kyrgios said. “You go from making finals of Grand Slams to struggling to play multiple singles matches.”

Still, Kyrgios enjoyed playing doubles one last time at the grass-court Grand Slam.

“Going out with someone like Bublik who keeps it pretty lighthearted, it’s a lot of fun,” he said. “But at the same time, a lot of things were running through my head the last couple of games.”

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis