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Nick Kyrgios and clay is anything but a love story. Never fond of this surface, the Australian has zapped this part of the season for several years now. For example, his last appearance at Roland Garros dates back to 2017 and a second round loss to Kevin Anderson. At the Masters 1000 in Madrid and Rome, you have to go back to 2019 and that short stint ended badly with a crack against Casper Ruud. But after six years of absence, Kyrgios confirmed that he would play the Paris Grand Slam in 2023, so that his girlfriend could visit Paris.
“Yes, I’ll play in the French Open, my girlfriend wants to see Paris, so why not,” he said during the Diriyah Tennis Cup. “Picking up a little more money… I played well on clay, I beat (Roger) Federer, (Stan) Wawrinka, I played a clay final (in Estoril in 2015) but usually at this time of the year I like to spend time at home. Because if I don’t, then I travel eight months a year, it’s too much. But she hasn’t seen Paris, so why not?” However, this will surely be Kyrgios’ only appearance on this surface. “There are too many events on clay, I’ve said it over and over. There are players in the top 100 whose faces and names I don’t even know, and they have only played on clay, it’s crazy.”
