Nick Kyrgios’ lawyers look to dismiss assault charge on mental health grounds | Tennis | Sport

“I was lonely, depressed, negative, abusing alcohol, drugs, pushed away family and friends,” he said on Instagram. “I felt as if I couldn’t talk or trust anyone.

“This was a result of not opening up and refusing to lean on my loved ones and simply just push myself little by little to be positive.” A hearing on his lawyers’ application is due to take place on February 3. 

A stellar year on the court has seen Kyrgios shoot up to 20th in the men’s world rankings. He powered all the way to the Wimbledon final in July before losing in four sets to Novak Djokovic and he put together another solid run at the US Open last month, beating number one seed Daniil Medvedev before losing a five-set marathon to Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals.