Nick Kyrgios

Nick Kyrgios

Nick Kyrgios has always played like the result is secondary to the moment. Underarm serves, tweeners and a habit of talking through his own matches made him tennis's most argued-about talent from the day he walked onto Wimbledon's grass in 2014, a 19 year old wildcard ranked No. 144, and beat world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the fourth round. He beat Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic the first time he faced each of them too, a hat trick only two other men have managed. The ranking peaked at No. 13 in October 2016, modest next to the highlight reel.

The high point arrived late and lasted one match short. In July 2022 he reached the Wimbledon final, still his only Grand Slam final, and lost to Djokovic in four sets. Knee surgery followed in early 2023, then a full wrist reconstruction that September after he ruptured a ligament, and the tour barely saw him for two years. He has kept trying since, taking wildcards through 2026 and picking up the odd win between long injury gaps, his career still unresolved rather than finished.