Nick Kyrgios has admitted to self-harming after opening up in his mental health struggles during a question and answer session with his fans on Instagram.
Known to be tennis ’ bad boy, Kyrgios caught the eye for the right reasons last month after picking up the Australian Open men's doubles title alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis as they defeated Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell in the final.
Despite this, things haven’t always been as successful for the Australian during his time in the public eye, often finding trouble both on and off the court.
Kyrgios has now opened up on his struggles via social media, after admitting to self harm in his past.
When asked how he deals with self doubt from a fan he replied: “No one knows what I've gone through, all the struggle I've overcome.
“I have self-harmed, was having dark thoughts about life. I always have my back and have all the confidence in the world.
“I lean on my loved ones.”
The Australian burst onto the scene as a youngster at Wimbledon in 2014, beating Rafael Nadal and reaching the quarter-final of the tournament as a relative unknown.
Kyrgios was tipped to go on to big things, and whilst he has won six ATP Tour titles and a doubles Grand Slam, many in the tennis world would say the Aussie has somewhat underachieved following his early career predictions.
The 26-year-old has no doubt caused plenty of controversy during his time on the tour, and the Australian has previously revealed he had gone through more than a few ups and downs in his playing career and personal life.
He commented: “My relationship with my family wasn't great a few years ago because I was always away and didn't have my family around me.
“I was winning, losing, going through relationship problems, dealing with other problems and I was pushing them away because you feel like the world’s against you.
“I pushed everyone who was close to me away and I fell out with people and that's something I'd never want again.
“I'm going seven months a year abroad in a new place every week.”
He went on to add that the one real challenge posed to a professional tennis player is the mental difficulty that comes with it: “That’s why tennis is so hard in my opinion.
“The mental game is ridiculous. Physically, you have to be an absolute animal.
“What other sport do you have to play for three plus hours, possibly seven times in two weeks? It doesn't happen.”
Despite a tough time though, things seemed to have picked up for Kyrgios in recent weeks after securing a Grand Slam title on the court, and finding happiness with new partner Costeen Hatzi off it.
Following his final victory in Melbourne he said: "I have won some big titles around the world, played some amazing matches. This one ranks [No] 1 for me.
“It's been a rough couple of years. I had Covid a week out from the Australian Open and my team and my beautiful girlfriend looked after me.”
