Day 2 at the Australian Open saw Nick Kyrgios drop a bombshell, hinting that retirement is not far away.
"I mean, realistically, I can't really see myself probably playing singles again here," he conceded. "Yeah, it's just not enjoyable for me. It's not enjoyable for me to go out there and not think tactically, enjoying the atmosphere, where am I going to hit the ball?
"It's like what am I doing to manage my body, this is painful, I can't do this because this hurts. That's not tennis to me. That's not sport."
Stefanos Tsitsipas was the first big name to exit Melbourne Park early in the day, and it was a somewhat sullen-looking Tsitsipas who came into the press conference.
"When I came around in 2018, the game was very different to what it is now. It wasn't as physical. I remember it quite fondly and intensely. The game has shifted more towards a physical game," he explained.
"I feel like the margins become smaller, meaning that you're not getting as many free points. I feel like innovation has stepped in and allowed players to serve even bigger than before.
"It just sucks in a way that I'll be around, hanging around, for quite a while now before my next tournament comes in. With my competitive nature, I feel like these type of things are not really ideal for me."
He did make light of the fact that he pulled out of doubles to focus on singles though, admitting: "I guess karma hit me".
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His opponent, Alex Michelson, also made similar comments about the state of men’s tennis.
"I feel like the game is just getting faster. That's what I feel. Everyone is becoming better athletes, and everyone can crank a serve and crank a forehand. I feel like everyone is a better athlete."á
Michelson has had some troubles with keeping his emotions in check, but admitted he hasn’t hired a mental coach to help.
"I'm my own mental coach…. I like being alone," the American said. "I'm a loner. I like sitting with my own thoughts and figuring stuff out on my own."
Iga Świątek overcame Kateřina Siniaková, discussing her slightly different preparation for this year.
"Maybe last year the mistake was for sure not having your own hitting partner. This year I have a hitting partner in my team, on this tournament as well," she said.
Defending champion Jannik Sinner overcame a stubborn Nicolás Jarry, and admitted he wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of crowd reaction after his doping scandal.
"I was curious to see how it was. You never know what's happening. I was happy about the crowd. It was a very nice crowd. There were some for my opponent and some for me. It was a nice atmosphere," said the defending champion.
It was a tough draw for Coco Gauff, taking on Sofia Kenin, a winner at Melbourne Park in 2020.
While Gauff seems full of confidence now, she admits she may have had even more when she first came onto the scene.
"I just think I had so much belief in myself that I didn't even think. I don't know. Honestly, now I think I have not less confidence, but I think then I was almost delusional. I remember I had my run at Wimbledon, and I thought I was like a Slam contender afterwards. I think that's just what my mind was being. A naive kid," she said.
Four-time major winner Carlos Alcaraz made it through relatively unscathed in his first hit out of the year, as he explained why he didn’t come into Melbourne with a match under his belt.
"I prefer to do a good pre-season, a little bit longer. That's it. I prefer to instead having two weeks of preseason. I think I'm in an age that I need weeks of practice. I need long preseasons just to be ready. Then the season is going to be long, so you have to be in a good shape. That's why I decide not to play any tournament before the Grand Slam, coming straight to here."
It was a good day for the Aussies, and a few of them won for the first time at the Australian Open.
Tristan Schoolkate spoke about winning in front of a home crowd.
"Oh, it's unbelievable. Pretty cool. Different feeling for sure…stoked to get that win today," he said.
While his good friend James McCabe seemed more relieved than anything.
"Just really happy to get through it. I have lost three or four now in a row, so just to get that monkey off my shoulder, I'm just happy and grateful."
20-year-old Talia Gibson was another who claimed her maiden win at a Slam, and her late-season form certainly helped her complete the job.
"I think the last couple of months [I've] definitely got a lot of confidence from how I was doing in some tournaments," she said.
"I think just keep believing in myself and believing in my tennis ability and what I can bring to the court. [It] definitely wasn't my best tennis for part of the match today, but [I] really just kept committing to my game, just taking it point by point and competing as hard as I could. I think that got me through the match today."
Another Aussie, Aleksandar Vukic, used previous five-set losses as a form of motivation to get over the line in his marathon against Damir Džumhur.
"I think like any five-set loss, actually thinking about it now, I lost in five sets, I think the year before, two years before that, as well, in the first-round. I think maybe 6-3, 6-4 in the fifth as well," the Sydneysider explained.
"You're kind of drawing on that, but I think you just become a bit more confident with the experience. I actually drew upon my Wimbledon one where I did win that 7-6 in the fifth."
Thanasi Kokkinakis made his way through to the second-round, but sounded like the injury to his leg might be here to stay for a while.
"It's something I'll have to look at. It's something I've been playing through the last five years. I got, unfortunately, pretty bad advice five or six years ago. I didn't listen to my body. I listened to the experts. Put me in a bit of a hole. I'll probably have to look at doing something after Australian Open."
Meanwhile, his next opponent, Britain’s Jack Draper, was looking forward to taking on Kokkinakis, but understands it will be tough.
"Every time I play him, he brings out his best tennis. I think it's great to play an Aussie here," he said.
"Thanasi is a really good guy and a great player. Always a battle when I've played him in the past. We've played a few times. Seems like every match has gone the distance and been really difficult."
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