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Nick Kyrgios has been open about his struggles with mental health in the past, especially the pressure that comes with the ups and downs of a competitive sport.
The Aussie, in a recent candid interview for the Jay Shetty Podcast, yet again delved into his suicidal thoughts, alluding to one particular instance when he was in Mexico.
Kyrgios said he was in his balcony minutes ahead of an important match when he thought about jumping off for a brief moment.
“There was a tournament in Mexico, Acapulco, where I was thinking about, I was having suicidal thoughts and, you know, I was just on the balcony of my hotel and I was genuinely thinking about it,” Kyrgios said. (9.30)
The 2022 Wimbledon finalist said he went on to play his match minutes later, winning emphatically and going on to lift the trophy. He recalled being praised for his performance not knowing that he was on the “brink” mentally, before dubbing the entire episode "scary".
“And my team was like, 'Oh, we’ve got to play in 10 minutes.' And then I'm going out on court, played amazing, won the tournament,” Kyrgios said. “And everyone globally was thinking, wow, is this the person that we've all been waiting for.
“When I was really on the brink of everything. And that's so scary because no one else knew what was going on. It was really hard,” he added. (9.50)
"This was the darkest period of my life" - Nick Kyrgios on the 2019 season
Nick Kyrgios also reflected on a difficult period from the 2019 season, describing himself as a “mess” in view of his struggles with self-harm during the time.
The Aussie pointed out that the issues were compounded due to the media spotlight putting him under pressure to outperform his past result each time he stepped on the court.
“And it was, it was hard. And I look back and I just don't know how I got out of it to be honest, I was such a mess,” Kyrgios said. “And the worst thing was the media, I was having decent results during that time.” (9.20)
Kyrgios would go on to call it the “darkest period of his life” in the same interview.
“And the media was like, 'Okay, is this a new Nick Kyrgios? Is this the Nick Kyrgios?' And I was like, 'This is the darkest period of my life,” the Aussie added. (9.30)
