Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios has revealed he would have up to 30 beers the night before a game in the lowest point of his career.
The Australian is set to play in his first Grand Slam final after Rafael Nadal withdrew from their semi-final matchup with injury.
It signals an incredible high point of his tennis career, which has been a journey of ups and downs.
Kyrgios recently discussed a dark time in his life and career during a podcast interview, where he revealed the mental health struggles he experienced.
He said: “(I was) probably drinking 20 to 30 drinks every night, just in my room on my own.
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“Waking up playing you know Acapulco, probably one of the biggest tournaments you can play and I was literally in my room drinking and I’m about to play my first round and I’m just contemplating whether if I even wanted to live at that point.
“I was just standing on the balcony of my room and my trainer came in and he was just like, ‘look we gotta go out there and play in 10 minutes.’”
“So I played that match and ended up winning and I ended up winning that tournament.
“I beat Nadal, Zverev, Wawrinka, some of the top players in the world and probably one of the best results of my life.
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“I was literally just going back to my room partying every night, but it wasn’t even the enjoyment of doing it with your mates, I didn’t even know anyone I was with.
“And I’d just be doing it all again, waking up hungover and going out there and playing.”
Really harrowing stuff from Kyrgios but kudos to him for opening up.
One thing you can always praise the Australian for is his honesty, whether that gets him in trouble every now and again or not.
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He’ll be getting set for the biggest game of his life this Sunday where he will face either Novak Djokovic or Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
Spanish publication Marca reported on Thursday that Nadal had suffered a 7mm abdominal tear during his win over Fritz.
Announcing his decision to withdraw, Nadal said: "Unfortunately as you can imagine I am here because I have to pull out from the tournament.
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"As everyone saw yesterday I have been suffering with a pain in the abdominal and something was not okay there. That is confirmed, I have a tear in the muscle and the communication is too late.
"I was thinking the whole day I was thinking about the decision to make but I think it doesn’t make sense to go, even if I try through my career to keep going.
"It is very tough circumstances but it is obvious if I keep going the injury will be worse and worse."
Topics: Australia, Nick Kyrgios, Wimbledon, Tennis
Jayden Collins