Kyrgios suffered in ‘lonely, dark place’

Nick Kyrgios has spoken about his struggle with depression which he says left him in a “lonely, dark place”.

The 25-year-old Australian began seeing a psychologist in 2018 to “get on top of his mental health” while he also vowed to reduce his schedule.

Kyrgios has not played since Fe b r u a r y after limiting his travel because of the coronavirus pandemic and dropped to 45 in the ATP world tour rankings.

“When I was struggling – and it wasn’t just about tennis – there were moments when I was seriously d e p r e s s e d ,” Ky r g i o s told S y d n e y ’s Sunday Telegraph.

“I remember waking up in Shanghai one year and it was 4pm and I was still in bed, curtains closed. I didn’t want to see the light of day.

“I felt like no one wanted to know me as a person, they just wanted to get a hold of me as a tennis player and use me.

“I didn’t feel like I could trust anyone. It was a lonely, dark place. And things came from that.

“I just lost joy for the game and I was spiralling out of control.”

Kyrgios has been regularly criticised for his on- court behaviour and portrayed as the bad boy of tennis.

He was given a suspended 16- week ban and fined $25,000 (£20,300) in September 2019 because of “aggravated behaviour”.

“I fell into depression because of the things I thought I had to be,” Kyrgios said.

“I was afraid to go out and talk to people because I thought I’d let them down because I wasn’t winning matches.”

Me a n w h i l e , Daniil Medvedev claimed the Rolex Paris Masters title as he came from behind to bring Alexander Zverev’s fine run of form to an end.

G e r m a n y ’s Zverev – winner of back- to- back titles at indoor hard court events in Cologne last month – edged the first set before Medvedev fought back to triumph 5-7 6-4 6-1 in two hours and seven minutes.

The Russian said: “I’m really happy with the final, with the win here, especially my level of game was really top level this week.

“I think it’s not easy for guys to play against me when I play like this.

“Today was a really tight match. And I need to say after the first set I didn’t know actually what to do, because I had zero break points.

“I d i d n’ t feel good returning his serve. He ser ves amazing . I was feeling like the match could slip (out) of my hands.”

Zverev, who defeated Rafael Nadal in the semis, admitted he was “dead” in terms of tiredness at the end of the second set.

He said: “The third set was always going to be very difficult for me. I knew that I had to win in two sets, and once I lost the second set I knew it was going to be diffic ult, especially against him who is not somebody who is very wild.

“You know, he’s ver y composed. He’s going to make you run for every point.”

OPENING UP: Nick Kyrgios has revealed his struggle with depression.