After spending close to two years on the sidelines due to injury, Nick Kyrgios appears ready to return to the ATP circuit, and may even participate in some doubles events alongside a peculiar partner.
The former World No.13 spent over 18 months dealing with and recovering from various ailments, which saw him undergo surgery. Although Kyrgios contemplated retirement, the 29-year old persevered and made his return at the 2025 Brisbane International, before thrilling his home fans at the Australian Open.
The former Wimbledon runner-up announced he would be teaming with billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, with the duo set to compete at a doubles event somewhere down the line. Kyrgios had previously offered Ackman some tennis lessons before they decided to take things a step further and play a professional match together.
"@BillAckman & I have decided we will play doubles somewhere later in the year! See if we can win a round at the futures level!!! Any ideas where we should play?” said Kyrgios in a statement on Twitter.
Ackman himself would later give more details on how their partnership came to be, with the American stating Kyrgios reached out to him after Ackman posted about Kyrgios's doubles run with Novak Djokovic in Brisbane.
"A fun story: I reposted an incredible @NickKyrgios @DjokerNole doubles point, and Nick replied with an offer of a tennis lesson,” wrote Ackman on Twitter. “I DM’d him taking him up on the offer and sent him some practice and doubles match videos. He then proposed that we are going to play a futures together (and win).
“I signed on. I am going all-in on training beginning Monday when I am back from Spring Break. The bigger the crowd, the higher the probability we will win! We look forward to seeing you."