FILE PHOTO: Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 14, 2023 Australia's Nick Kyrgios during a practice session REUTERS/Sandra Sanders/File Photo
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Nick Kyrgios will reveal in upcoming episodes of a Netflix documentary that he spent time in a psychiatric hospital after losing at Wimbledon in 2019, The Australian newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The 28-year-old was knocked out by Rafael Nadal in the second round of the championships that year while wearing a white sleeve to cover up his right arm.
"I was genuinely contemplating if I wanted to commit suicide," Kyrgios says in an episode of the documentary Break Point to be released later this month, according to the newspaper.
"I lost at Wimbledon. I woke up and my dad was sitting on the bed, full-blown crying. That was the big wake-up call for me. I was like, okay, I can't keep doing this. I ended up in a psych ward in London to figure out my problems."
Kyrgios wrote a lengthy Instagram post in February last year about his mental health struggles, at the end of which he said he was in a much better place.
"I'm proud to say I've completely turned myself around and have a completely different outlook on everything, I don't take one moment for granted," he wrote.
"I want you to be able to reach your full potential and smile. This life is beautiful."
The Break Point episodes chronicle Kyrgios's run to last year's Wimbledon final with the highlight of his career so far prompting recollections of the 2019 nadir.
"That pressure, having that all-eyes-on-you expectation, I couldn't deal with it. I hated the kind of person I was," he says.
"I was drinking, abusing drugs, lost my relationship with my family, pushed all my close friends away.
"You could tell I was hurting. My whole arm was covered in scars. That's why I actually got my arm sleeve. To cover it all."
Reuters was unable to reach Kyrgios or a representative for comment.
Kyrgios's career renaissance was interrupted around the turn of the year by a knee injury. He returned to action on Tuesday but lost his opening match at the Stuttgart Open.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
