• ‘Five setters are a different beast’, says 30-year-old

• Australian has attempted comeback from injury in recent weeks

Nick Kyrgios’s surgically-repaired knee and wrist will not prevent him from taking part at Melbourne Park, where Australian Open qualifying begins next week, but he will not feature in the singles draw.

The 30-year-old posted on social media saying he wasn’t ready for best-of-five set tennis, ruling himself out of contention for a wildcard, but he would still take to the court alongside friend and doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis.

8BitDo has amassed a strong reputation over the past few years for their high quality 3rd party controllers, with an emphasis on offering throwback designs and colour schemes to systems of old. In an interesting addition to their line-up of accessories, the hardware maker has now unveiled the FlipPad: A new, unique mobile controller built specifically for vertical gaming.

Making the announcement via a brief teaser video on Twitter, the official 8BitDo account officially unveiled the FlipPad “a flip-style gamepad designed for mobile gaming.”

Said to be arriving some time this Summer, the unique vertically-aligned controller attaches to your phone using USB-C for minimal latency. After connecting the controller, the faceplate / button pad then flips to cover the lower 3rd of your phone screen.

Up until now, only one other controller maker has attempted to create such a product, with the Hyperkin Smart Boy originally being announced as an April Fool’s joke – though it was ultimately turned into a real product.

Given the fact that many earlier handhelds were designed as vertical systems, the 8BitDo FlipPad will serve as a great way to play emulated titles on your smartphone without the need for a relatively chunky telescopic accessory. Hopefully the buttons themselves feel satisfying to use.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the 8BitDo FlipPad? Could it inspire a new wave of vertical controllers? How much do you think it’ll cost? Let us know down below.

Australian’s disappointing performance in Brisbane could vindicate officials’ reluctance to hand him a Melbourne Park wildcard

Nick Kyrgios appears set for little more than a peripheral role during Australia’s summer of tennis after a brisk, anticlimactic and – for fans of the 30-year-old – worrying defeat at the Brisbane International in his first competitive singles outing in almost 10 months.

The Canberran, who is recovering from knee and wrist surgeries and played only five times on the ATP Tour in 2025, offered little resistance against American Aleksandar Kovacevic in the first round at the Pat Rafter Arena on Tuesday. The 27-year-old American, ranked 58 in the world, breezed past the Australian 6-3 6-4 in just 66 minutes, without giving up a break point opportunity.