For years, Nick Kyrgios has danced on the edge of chaos and brilliance, a polarizing storm in tennis that split the locker room in half. While his fiery clashes with Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas are the stuff of legend, he’s also shared rare camaraderie with giants like Novak Djokovic. Once upon a time, though, his truest ally was Andy Murray, a bond forged in respect and rebellion. But time changes even the fiercest connections, and now, the former Wimbledon finalist admits with a sting of truth that his relationship with Murray is nothing like what it used to be.

Nick Kyrgios has never been one to sugarcoat his emotions. His words often slice through niceties, raw and unfiltered, revealing the complicated man beneath the swagger. On a recent episode of the Unscripted podcast, the Australian spoke with a rare mix of candor and melancholy when asked about his relationship with Andy Murray, a man who once stood firmly in his corner. 

What followed was a confession that sounded almost like a lament. “I guess he [Murray]’s just like a colleague,” said Kyrgios. “I mean, I wouldn’t even know if he’s a friend anymore. I mean, we used to be closer, but then, I don’t know. Yes, he [Murray] did [supported me during the toughest times of my career]. He was one of the [very few] people that was very supportive of me throughout. Now, we kind of don’t talk as much. I wanted him on my podcast, and he acted too important. So there’s your truth. It’s like, bro, find some time.”

Murray, since retiring in August 2024, has stepped away from the chaos, choosing instead the quiet of family life with his wife and four children. The silence of his post-tennis world stands in sharp contrast to Kyrgios’ loud existence, a man still wrestling with ghosts of his own past and the echoes of what might have been.

Their connection had once run deeper than most imagined. Kyrgios, a storm of brilliance and self-destruction, often found in Murray something of an anchor. “Andy was always a big supporter of me,” Kyrgios said on Piers Morgan Uncensored back in 2023. “As soon as I came on the tour, he kind of saw a work in progress and took me under his wing. He saw it [the self-harm] and he said, ‘What’s that on your arm?’ It was pretty bad at that stage.” Those words carried a weight that few could truly understand, the story of a man who has battled himself more fiercely than any opponent across the net.

Even as far back as 2016, Murray had been the voice of reason amid the storm surrounding Kyrgios. When the media hounded the young Australian for every outburst and every mistake, Murray had stood firm. “You guys try and wind him up the whole time,” Murray said. “It’s not really fair on him. When he makes a mistake, it’s fine. I don’t have a problem reporting on him making a mistake or doing something wrong. But it happens a lot where it doesn’t seem like he’s really done much in comparison to what other players are doing, and he’s the one that gets asked all the questions about it.”

And yet, though the Aussie hasn’t officially called timeout on his career, he remains only a fleeting presence on the court. 

Having withdrawn from back-to-back Grand Slams, Kyrgios continues to wrestle with the lingering shadow of one defining moment, that haunting loss in the Wimbledon final.

The Wimbledon final loss still haunts Nick Kyrgios

Nick Kyrgios has never shied away from his “what if” moments, but one match continues to burn deeper than the rest: the 2022 Wimbledon final. For him, that day wasn’t just another loss. Kyrgios admits that had he gone all the way, people might have viewed him through a different lens, as a conqueror who slayed the greatest of them all, Novak Djokovic, the man many call the ultimate giant of the Open era, crowned with 24 Grand Slam titles.

“I mean if you win Wimbledon, you look at it from a like immortality point of view,” said Kyrgios. “Like a couple hundred people of all time of on a Grand Slam list. So it’s like if you mark yourself in that territory, you know, obviously financially probably triggers, you know a couple more things but look, I’ll look back at that. I’m just like obviously, I wish I’d won that match but at the same time like you know, you lost it the greatest player the greatest tennis player to ever play.”

Since returning to the court at the end of 2024, Kyrgios has struggled to reclaim that fire consistently. The Australian Open earlier this year was meant to be his homecoming, but instead, it became another first-round heartbreak. His body, once his weapon, now feels like his cage.

“Yeah, I’ll probably play the Aussie Open in some way,” Kyrgios said. “I’m not too sure what events I’ll play, but I definitely will say goodbye at the Aussie Open at least one more time. I don’t know yet, like, I’m to the point where my body is… It’s just hard because I know what it takes to be at that level, and whether or not you can string those days together. That’s what’s tough.”

As a new season nears, all eyes turn once again to Kyrgios. He may walk back into Melbourne Park, carrying both brilliance and heartbreak. 

Yet, beneath that fierce exterior, one truth remains: the haunting echo of the Wimbledon final still follows him, a ghost that refuses to fade.