Nick Kyrgios has dropped another hint towards his tennis retirement after admitting he's unsettled about how many more years he'll be on the professional circuit for.
Meanwhile, the Australian world No. 95 declared this year's Laver Cup would likely be his last ever, as he also prepares to cut his season short to return home to Australia and care for his ill mother.
The revelation followed a 6-3 6-4 defeat to third-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas in Boston with Kyrgios' Team World trailing heavily to Team Europe 11-1 and facing a near-certain loss in this year's event.
Speaking to reporters after the straight sets loss, Kyrgios pulled the curtains on his 2021 season, saying he'll return home to prepare for next year's Australian Open and be by his mother's side.
"This is probably my last Laver Cup," the 26-year-old said.
"I don't know how much longer I will be in tennis.
"This is my last event of the year. I will get my body right ahead of the Australian Open.
"My mum is not doing too well with her health. I'd like to go back and see her."
It's the second time in as many months the Canberran has hinted he was considering early retirement, while his strange relationship with the game he's made a living out of has been well-documented.
Ahead of the Citi Open in Washington back in August, which came shortly after he pulled out of the Tokyo Olympics, Kyrgios confessed he felt "strange" about his career and was treating each tournament as if it were his last.
“Like every time I’m at a tournament, I feel like it could be my last time I’m ever going to be here," Kyrgios admitted last month.
“I’m not going to lie. I mean, I don’t miss it that much anymore.
“I don’t know. I don’t know where I’m at. I feel weird. I feel strange about my career at the moment.”
With Sunday's loss to Tsitsipas, Kyrgios has now lost five successive singles matches on the ATP Tour after he was also bowled out in the first round of last month's US Open by Roberto Bautista Agut.
Kyrgios is now at risk of dropping outside the world's top 100 ranked players, with 95th his lowest ranking since June 2014 when he was 19 and made an iconic surge through to the quarter-finals in his Wimbledon debut, defeating world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.
He boasts six career singles titles, the last of which came in the 2019 Citi Open, and remains one of the ATP Tour's most entertaining players to watch.
Although, Kyrgios admitted that he can't see himself playing on the tour for much longer.
"As long as I'm on the court, I will try and give my best," he said after the loss to Tsitsipas.
"But I'm not going to lie and say that I'm going to plan to play four or five more years on tour."