An upset loss to Frenchman Jeremy Chardy at the Brisbane International has ensured Nick Kyrgios will be unseeded at the Australian Open as his ranking drops into the 50s for the first time in four years.
Kyrgios looked menacing behind his laser-beam serve in the first set on Pat Rafter Arena on Wednesday afternoon but with its dwindling efficiency, so went his prospects of defending the title he won in 2018.
Slipping: Nick Kyrgios isn't too fussed after crashing out of the world's top 50 with his Brisbane International loss.Credit:AAP
Chardy triumphed 6-7 (7-5), 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the quarter-finals where he will face Japanese qualifier Yasutaka Uchiyama, who stunned England's world No.14 Kyle Edmund. That result would only highlight the opportunity that has slipped through the grasp of the mercurial Australian.
More pressing for Kyrgios will be how he fares in the draw in Melbourne. With limited activity late last season as he battled injuries, he began the year at 35th, which would have risen to 34 should he have gone back-to-back in Brisbane.
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Now he has already slipped to No.52 and could drop lower depending on results from other tournaments. The Australian Open seeds 32 players, which would have put him in the frame from 34 should there have been some injuries in the men's field.
Kyrgios was as high as 13th in the world in late 2014, which was little more than a year after he had turned professional. But his constant struggles with his temperament and a love-hate relationship with his own sport, combined with some tricky elbow and hip complaints, have seen his stocks head steadily south.
Kyrgios wasn't exactly fussed about the figures after the match: "I honestly could not care less," he said.
Nor was he second-guessing a pre-season that saw him barely hit a ball, although it was disrupted by a spider bite that saw him taken to hospital for treatment and was still swollen enough a few days before the tournament that he was having issues putting on his shoe.
"I had an unbelievable pre-season," he said. "I loved every bit of it being home. And being away from the sport. I loved it."
He would say during the week that he was still the man in the spotlight for the Australian men but it will be Alex De Minaur that stands to be the only seeded male in Melbourne. He could end the week as high as 29th in the world, which would continue to build on his breakout year in 2018.
Kyrgios produced eight aces in the first set and won 100 per cent (25/25) of his points on the first serve. Chardy never had a chance to break and Kyrgios drew first blood against one of his better friends on the ATP Tour, with the pair regular hitting partners.
He would add just another five over the remaining two sets, with Chardy finally getting the break with Kyrgios serving at 2-3 in the second set, before another to ensure it went to a third.
With Kyrgios starting to lose his cool and his body language starting to deteriorate, the 23-year-old was unable to dig himself out of the hole as Chardy kicked on for a deserved quarter-final appearance.
Kyrgios said he would ramp up his practice over coming weeks and head straight to Melbourne after the Fast4 event in Sydney. There was little panic ahead of the Open, with Kyrgios saying he would always back himself against any opponent, regardless of the numbers beside their name.
"I feel like no matter who I play, I've got a fair shot if I play the right style of tennis and I'm feeling good," he said. "But at this stage I'm not even thinking about it.
"I'm just going to go do everything I usually do, just go practise and when the time comes, I'll play a match. No matter who I draw, I'll play and that's just what it is."
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