Nick Kyrgios opens up on dark thoughts following 2019 Wimbledon heartbreak

Australian Nick Kyrgios has revealed he was admitted to a psychiatric ward after contemplating suicide following a Wimbledon defeat to Rafael Nadal in 2019.

The often-controversial world number 25 said the second-round, four-set defeat to the Spaniard was the lowest point of his career.

He says that his family helped him get through the worst times as he saw them reaching out to him and suffering alongside.

At Wimbledon in 2019, Kyrgios progressed through the first round after a five-set battle with compatriot Jordan Thompson.

However, he lost to Rafael Nadal in the second round, going down in four sets and ultimately spiralling into a deep depression.

In clips released by Netflix Documentary, Break Point, Kyrgios talks about the feelings he experienced and the various forms of self-harm he engaged in.

At a low point Kyrgios would check into a psychiatric facility in London and he would further reveal that he got the tattoo on his arm to hide the scars of self-harm.

Kyrgios added that the pressure of being in the spotlight got to him and he wasn’t able to deal with it in a healthy way.

“I was genuinely contemplating if I wanted to commit suicide,” Kyrgios, who wore a white sleeve on his right arm to hide tell-tale self-harm scars, told Netflix documentary Break Point.

“I lost at Wimbledon. I woke up and my dad was sitting on the bed, full-blown crying. That was the big wake-up call for me.

“I was like ‘OK, I can’t keep doing this’. I ended up in a psych ward in London to figure out my problems.

“I was drinking, abusing drugs, lost my relationship with my family, pushed all my close friends away.

“You could tell I was hurting. My whole arm was covered in scars. That’s why I actually got my arm sleeve. To cover it all.

“That pressure, having that all-eyes-on-you expectation, I couldn’t deal with it. I hated the kind of person I was.”

Kyrgios has missed much of the 2023 season with injury having undergone surgery earlier this year.

He would also aggravate his injury situation just before the French Open as he suffered a laceration to his foot while responding to a break-in at his home where his mother was held up at gunpoint.

“During the incident on May 1, they had the armed robbery at the house,” Kyrgios agent Daniel Horsfall said. “With all the stuff that was going on Nick lacerated the side of his left foot. We don’t know how. .

“Basically, it’s just set him back about two-and-a-half weeks in terms of his loading schedule to get back on court for what we thought was going to be the grand slam.”