Nick Kyrgios seems to be taking a different approach with his latest comeback attempt. For one, he is winning matches again. More importantly, he is doing so in a relatively quiet manner off the court.
The Australian always could be great, but seemingly not the willpower to want to work hard continuously to be so. Injuries took a toll, too, but for much of the last decade, Kyrgios appeared content to make often divisive, sometimes funny, sometimes enlightening comments on social media and his podcast.
He has rarely played and only performed in one match in 2026 ahead of the Boss Open in Stuttgart this week. That was at the Brisbane International in early January, where he was summarily dismissed easily by Aleksandar Kovacevic.
A great start by Nick Kyrgios turns into a disappointing finish in Stuttgart
Every time Kyrios has returned from an extended layoff has resulted in quick outs at tournaments, and then another long layoff. This is why his play at the Boss Open felt different for a short time. In his first match, he served exceedingly well and dispatched eighth-seed Corentin Moutet in straight sets. The match a reminder that when Kyrgios is playing well, he is capable of elite tennis.
His second match against 28-year-old Sho Shimabukuro in the round of 16 might have been one that Kyrgios might have struggled with over the last many years. In terms of tennis ability, the Japanese player should be no match for Nick Kyrgios.
Surprisingly, given his past performance, Kyrgios played brilliantly in the first set, rarely dropping a point on his enormous serve and taking the opener 6-4. He played with enough of his normal flair to entertain the crowd, but he also performed fundamentally sound tennis at a high level.
The Australian, who is not currently ranked on the ATP tour due to his long absences, played at a level that could make him dangerous at Wimbledon, the major where he reached the final in 2022, before losing to Novak Djokovic in four sets.
Kyrgios has the serve and the ability to move to be an elite player on grass courts, though at 31 years old and having not played much, he might not have the stamina to enjoy a deep run at a Grand Slam event. That doesn't matter as much in Stuttgart due to playing best two-of-three matches instead of the best three-of-five, like he would at a major.
The former mattered against Shimabukuro, though. After failing to land 60 percent of his first serves in the opening set, the Japanese player began landing his huge serve in set two, and kept nearly matching Kyrgios ace for ace. He had seven while the Aussie had eight, and a tight tie-break for set two went to Shimabukuro.
The third set began tight, too. The Japanese player landed fewer first serves, but dug himself out of trouble when he needed to. Kyrgios kept getting aces, but couldn't finish return games successfully when getting the chance.
Shimabukuro stunningly could at the end of the set, though. At 4-5, Kyrgios let his game get away from him and the Japanese player was performing at his best at the end of the match. He got the break to move into the quarterfinals. Kyrgios was left to think about what his next tennis opportunity would be.
Perhaps most importantly, though, Kyrgios has returned to the sport this time without making much noise off it. This implies that maybe this time he is focused on his form, instead of how many people are noticing that he is playing again.
Nick Kyrgios does need to perfect his return game more to be a real threat in higher-end tournaments, and his serve might have been enough to allow him to make a surprise run at the Stuttgart Open. Of course, at this point, any wins that the Australian can string together consecutively are somewhat shocking, and he was out-served by Sho Shimabukuro.
Update: Kyrgios did win his doubles match with partner Alexander Bublik over Jakub Paul and Ryan Seggerman. While he's not playing singles, he will still be playing at the Boss Open.
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