Nick Kyrgios says he’s at serious risk of being rusty for the Australian Open

Unconventional Nick Kyrgios devoted his pre-season to completely getting away from tennis and admits he may have left himself at serious risk of being rusty for his Australian summer circuit.

Nick Kyrgios of Australia serves against Bradley Klahn of the US during their men's single round of 64 match at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament on October 8, 2018. (Photo by Johannes EISELE / AFP)

Unconventional Nick Kyrgios devoted his pre-season to getting over being “sick’’ of tennis and admits he has left himself at serious risk of being rusty for his Australian summer circuit.

Not that the enigmatic Australian professed to care much when talking in Brisbane if he is rusty or not.

Kyrgios lost three days of practice when he suffered a spider bite to his foot, which he will test to see how comfortable he would be for his first scheduled Brisbane International match against Ryan Harrison.

The Brisbane International’s defending champion said the irritation was getting better with antibiotics he took in two days in a Canberra hospital before flight to Brisbane.

“When I went home (in October after an elbow injury ended his season), I didn’t touch a racquet for a month,’’ Kyrgios said.

Nick Kyrgios pic on Instagram

Kyrgios touches down in Brisbane

Asked how much hitting he did before incurring the bite just before Christmas, Kyrgios said: “Not at all. I spent a lot of time in the gym and I was playing a lot of basketball.

“The off season for me is not about trying to improve and get better. It’s about completely stepping away. I played enough tennis during the year. I’m sick of it.

“The last thing I want to do is hit more balls. I’ll probably be rusty, I wouldn’t be surprised I hit like 30 unforced errors. It doesn’t matter to me.’’

Nick Kyrgios of Australia serves against Bradley Klahn

Kyrgios, seeded eighth, has a rematch of his Pat Rafter Arena final from 12 months ago against Harrison and at least the bite was to the top of a foot, not a sole.

“I think I’ll be OK (to play in Brisbane). It’s definitely progressing,’’ he said. “I’ll see how it goes with 10 or 15 minutes hitting and see how the foot feels.

“I woke up on Christmas Day and my foot was really swollen.

“I had been in the hospital the past couple of days on a drip, with antibiotics.’’

Kyrgios said he would play a “very light’’ schedule next year after an elbow injury limited him to only 14 tournaments in 2018.

“If I win the Australian Open or something I probably wouldn’t play for the rest of the year,’’ he said.

“I’m not sure of the exact number (of tournaments).

“I think being home solved all my problems. I was away from home for like five and a half months. I don’t want to do that ever again.’’

Eighth seed Kyrgios has recovered from a spider bite to line up for his title defence and is placed on the opposite side of the draw to Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and five Australians including world No.31 Alex de Minaur.

Experience the best of international tennis LIVE. SIGN UP NOW!