Nick Kyrgios lives his life in the fast lane. Fast tennis, fast cars and fast talking. But the world No. 38 took time to reflect on Friday and rubbed shoulders with indoor cricketers and roller derby teams.
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The Canberra sports awards finalists announcement was a world away from Kyrgios' normal duties on the tennis tour and grand slam events.
But the 23-year-old said he felt right at home, even if he wasn't quite sure about all the nominated sports, and he's using his time back home to recuperate after an injury-plagued year.
"I've been looking forward to being back, I've been on the road for five months so to finally be back and to see these guys doing their thing is pretty special," Kyrgios said.
"The ACT as a small territory is doing pretty well sporting wise. I'm not too sure what all of these guys do, but they're obviously very good at it. Hopefully I get to know a lot of them at the awards night."
A relaxed Kyrgios is lapping up life in the capital after an elbow injury ended his season in Moscow last month.
He is still training, but is only on light duties and is putting a lot of his energy into other areas usually overshadowed by controversy and success on the court. Kyrgios will hand out racquets at Lyneham as part of a kids tennis day.
He will then play with the juniors and sign autographs, as well as launching work for the NK Foundation, which aims to create a safe place for underprivileged youth to play sport.
Kyrgios is one of three finalists for the male athlete of the year at the Canberra sport awards, competing with international indoor cricket player of the year Matthew Floros and rowing world championship silver medallist Caleb Antill.
Winter Olympian Laura Peel is a women's finalist after competing in PyeongChang and she will go head to head with Commonwealth Games cycling champion Chloe Hosking and cross-triathlete world champion Penny Slater.
There are nine categories for awards, including the newly created rising star prize, with the winners to be announced at a dinner on November 30.
Kyrgios will spend up to a month in Canberra after most of the year on the road and struggling to overcome injuries. He started the year ranked as high as No. 14, but injuries prevented him from mounting a charge towards the top 10.
"I've had an up and down year, I was dealing with a lot of things off the court and going through my struggles with injury," Kyrgios said.
"But I had a relatively decent year. Not as good as what I would've liked but all I can do now is rest, recover and get ready for the Aussie summer.
"For now I'll just soak up Canberra. I miss it so much when I'm on the road, miss sleeping in my own bed. So right now I'm not even thinking about the Aussie Open or anything. Just being normal."
