'Dark thoughts': Nick Kyrgios' troubling online admission

Content warning: self-harm

Australian Open doubles champion Nick Kyrgios has taken to Instagram to reveal some deeply personal truth about his struggles with mental health over the past few years.

Kyrgios is no stranger to candidly discussing mental health matters with fans, at one point last year encouraging people to contact him personally after sharing how incidents of racism had affected him in the past.

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In a remarkably frank Q&A on Instagram on Tuesday, Kyrgios delved into his evolving relationship with his family, and how the rigours of being on tour had affected his mental health.

Describing a life on the road 'in a new place every week', Kyrgios said having to spend so much time away from home had wound up causing distance to build between himself and trusted family members.

Kyrgios said the 'mental game' of elite tennis was brutal.

“No one knows what I’ve gone through, all the struggle I’ve overcome,” Kyrgios said.

“I’ve 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 26-year-old, who claimed an unlikely doubles victory at the Australian Open alongside former junior partner Thanasi Kokkinakis, said he had been able to repair some of his relationship in the past few years.

Nevertheless, he said the grind of competition had taken a deep personal toll.

“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,” Kyrgios said.

“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. That’s why tennis is so hard in my opinion. The mental game is ridiculous."

Kyrgios snubbed for Aust Davis Cup team

Kyrgios's heroics in the doubles at the Australian Open was not enough to earn him selection for Australia's Davis Cup clash with Hungary.

Team captain Lleyton Hewitt has instead opted for debutant Luke Saville, Thanasi Kokkinakis, world No.12 doubles specialist John Peers, Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur and world No 65 Alexei Popyrin for the March 4-5 tie in Sydney.

Kokkinakis and Kyrgios clinched the men's doubles title at the Australian Open last week to earn their first grand slam title.

But Hewitt is confident his team has enough firepower to match the Hungarians, who will be led by world No.39 Marton Fucsovics.

"Alex has had most of his recent success in Sydney, winning the Sydney international a few years back but also some of his best results last month, including quality wins against (Matteo) Berrettini and (Ugo) Humbert," said Hewitt.

"Thanasi had a fantastic Australian summer. He really cemented himself as a top-100 player again, winning his first title at home in Adelaide and beating quality players. And then to go on to win the Australian Open doubles, this is going to give him a lot of confidence heading into this tie.

"Popyrin got an opportunity to play a big Davis Cup match in the finals last year. He has a lot of firepower out there, a lot of weapons as well and certainly an option for singles or doubles.

"John Peers has been a regular in the Davis Cup team for a number of years now, he's a top 15 doubles player. He won the Sydney Tennis Classic a couple of weeks ago and played exceptionally well with Luke Saville at the ATP Cup last month.

"And Luke gets his first opportunity to represent Australia at Davis Cup. It's something he has worked extremely hard for, and I couldn't be prouder of him to get this opportunity and being able to present him with a gold jacket and his number," Hewitt added.

De Minaur, the country's top men's player, will again spearhead Australia's charge.

With AAP

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