Nick Kyrgios set to return to tennis in Brisbane next month with plans for 2025 Australian Open

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Nick Kyrgios say he will make a return to competitive tennis at the Brisbane International beginning Dec. 29 after playing only one ATP Tour match in more than two years.

The 29-year-old Kyrgios has been mostly sidelined with career-threatening wrist and knee injuries since the 2022 U.S. Open quarterfinals.

That run came six weeks after reaching the Wimbledon final when he came closest to winning a Grand Slam singles championship before losing in four sets to Novak Djokovic.

Also stating his intentions to play in the 2025 Australian Open in Melbourne, Kyrgios said he's planning to compete in the World Tennis League exhibition event in Abu Dhabi from Dec. 19-22, with the mixed team event also attracting players such as Iga Swiatek, Casper Ruud, Aryna Sabalenka, Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev.

Kyrgios was a late withdrawal from the Australian Open in 2023 due to a knee injury that required surgery, before having to pull out of the French Open later that year with a foot issue.

A winner of seven titles on the ATP Tour, Kyrgios subsequently tore a ligament in his wrist that also needed surgery with his last tour match a short-lived return to grass at Stuttgart in June 2023.

Currently unranked, the one-time 13th-ranked player said he was excited to resume his career in front of home fans.

“Honestly, this is probably the best I’ve felt in two years,” he told a Melbourne television station Friday. “I played that amazing year in 2022. Then at the finals in Wimbledon and U.S. Open, that’s when I started feeling some issues in my wrist. I had that wrist reconstruction and now I’m feeling amazing."

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

FILE - Nick Kyrgios of Eagles returns the ball to Grigor Dimitrov of Falcons during a match of Day 3 of the World Tennis League at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Dec. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Randy Winn is the new vice president of player development for the San Francisco Giants.

Winn played for the Giants from 2005-09 as part of a 13-season big league career. He was hired Thursday by former teammate Buster Posey, who became the team's president of baseball operations on Sept. 29.

Winn hit .290 with 51 homers, 262 RBIs and 73 stolen bases with the Giants and .284 with 110 homers, 662 RBIs and 215 steals during a career that included time with Tampa Bay (1998-2002), Seattle (2003-05), the New York Yankees (2010) and St. Louis (2010).

He was San Francisco's roving outfield and baserunning instructor from 2013-16, special assistant to the general manager from 2017-2018 and pro scout in 2019 under director of pro scouting Zack Minasian, who was promoted to GM on Nov 1.

Winn, 50, has been an analyst on Giants broadcasts on NBC Sports Bay Area since 2013 and two months ago became chairman of the Giants Community Fund. He was president of the Baseball Assistance Team from 2011-20 and remains on its board.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

FILE - Former San Francisco Giants outfielder Randy Winn poses for photos in the dugout at Municipal Stadium before a Class-A minor league baseball game between the San Jose Giants and the Modesto Nuts in San Jose, Calif., June 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Janie McCauley, File)