Nick Kyrgios wants to play in Australian Open 2022 despite Covid-19 positive test

The Australian tennis icon, Nick Kyrgios looks in doubt to play at the Australian Open which begins in a week’s time after testing positive for Covid-19.

This news comes just hours after it had been confirmed that Novak Djokovic had won his court battle to stay in Australia despite not being vaccinated against the virus.

The 26-year-old confirmed on Monday 10 January 2022 that he would not be playing in the Sydney Tennis Classic just a few hours before he was set to face the Italian tennis player Fabio Fognini.

Taking to Instagram to announce the news, the 114th ranked player in the world said:

“I just want to be open and transparent with everyone, the reason I have had to pull out of Sydney is because I tested positive for Covid.

“I am feeling healthy at the moment with no symptoms. I wish everyone all the best and to try to stay safe where you can. If all goes well I will see you all at the Australian Open.”

Kyrgios had also been set to play in the Melbourne Summer Set last week but pulled out due to a mystery illness that had caused problems with his asthma.

He had undergone several tests last week in order to try account for the mysterious illness and all of these tests cleared Kyrgios of COVID-19. However, he still decided against playing in Melbourne in order to give his body a longer recovery period.

At the time, the Australian said “Whatever I’ve got at the moment is really wearing me down, kind of been bedridden for the last couple of days.

“Really struggling to breathe and my asthma has been acting up like crazy.

“I have had several Covid-19 tests over the last few days, which all came back negative. I don’t feel 100% so I need to take this week to be ready for Sydney next week.”

With the number of tests Krygrios underwent, his test result on Monday has come as a shock and now only gives the tennis player a week to try and shake off the virus before the start of the ‘Happy Slam’ Australian Open.

In 2016, Kyrgios reached a career high ATP singles ranking of 13 but has since dropped over 100 places. He still remains one of the biggest names on the ATP tour due to his incredible skills and flamboyant on-court dramas.

The 26-year-old from Canberra reached the Australian Open quarterfinal in 2015  but has since made it just as far as the fourth round.

He is also well known at the Australian Open for audible obscenities and racketsmashing for which he was fined in 2015 and 2016.

His most recent dabble into the world of drama involved the vaccination status of world number one Djokovic and Kyrgios had taken to twitter to say “Look, I definitely believe in taking action, I got vaccinated because of others and for my mum’s health, but how we are handling Novak’s situation is bad, really bad. Like these memes, headlines, this is one of our great champions but at the end of the day, he is human. Do better.”

The pair have had several notable exchanges on the court and now the Australian has taken it off the court in order to highlight his belief in the importance of the vaccine and fair treatment in sport.

The Australian Open begins on Monday 17 January 2022 and is available to watch on Eurosport.

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