It’s fair to say prominent American tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg doesn’t have much time for Nick Kyrgios.
Highly critical of the recent ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match between Kyrgios and women’s world no. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in Dubai, Rothenberg has once again taken to social media to cast doubts over the actions of the enigmatic Australian.
Shortly after Kyrgios announced he would not be seeking a singles wildcard for the 2026 Australian Open, preferring to focus on doubles and give ‘his’ singles spot to a player more ready for the rigours of five-set tennis, Rothenberg took to X to subtly raise the issue of, why?
“Nick Kyrgios is not getting an Australian Open singles wildcard after all, which he frames as his own choice in this statement,” Rothenberg posted to his 161,000 followers, implying the Australian perhaps had been gently told he wasn’t going to get a wildcard, or even talked out of the idea by tournament organisers.
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True or not, earlier on Friday Kyrgios made the announcement on his own social media accounts.
“After some good conversations with TA (Tennis Australia), I’ve made the call to focus on doubles for this year’s AO,” the 30-year-old said.
“I’m fit and back on court, but 5-setters are a different beast and I'm not quite ready to go the distance yet.
“This tournament means everything to me, but - l’d rather give my spot to someone who's ready to make their moment count. It’s all building blocks and I'll be back next year and pumped to compete. See you out there.”
A series of wrist and knee injuries have seen Kyrgios play just a handful of singles matches in recent years—most recently a 6-3, 6-4 first round loss at the Brisbane International to Aleksandar Kovacevic from the USA on Tuesday.
Australian Open Qualifying begins on Monday January 12 at Melbourne Park with action in the main draws beginning on Sunday January 18.