Nick Kyrgios reveals he contemplated suicide after loss to Rafael Nadal in Wimbledon 2019

Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios has revealed that his defeat against Rafael Nadal in Wimbledon 2019 had an adverse effect on his mental health and he even contemplated suicide, following which he was admitted to a psychiatric ward.

The current world number 25, who is often in the news due to some controversy or the other, termed the second-round four-set defeat against the Spanish great as the lowest point of his career.

In the documentary series, Break Point on Netflix, Kyrgios - who is often dubbed as the bad boy of tennis - said, "I was genuinely contemplating if I wanted to commit suicide." Kyrgios was sporting a white sleeve on his right arm to hide tell-tale self-harm scars.

"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 'OK, I can't keep doing this'. I ended up in a psych ward in London to figure out my problems.

"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.

"That pressure, having that all-eyes-on-you expectation, I couldn't deal with it. I hated the kind of person I was."

Nadal - the then world number two - defeated Kyrgios 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) to enter round three. The 2022 Wimbledon encounter between the two brought back the memories of 2019 and fans were anticipating another mouth-watering battle between two fierce competitors.

However, Nadal's hopes of completing a calendar grand slam were dashed as he had to withdraw from the semi-final match due to an abdominal strain he sustained during his quarter-final win against Taylor Fritz.