The criticism that has followed his antics at Wimbledon have scarred the young Australian, who admitted he was contemplating a way out of it.
"For sure you have those doubts and those thoughts," Kyrgios said about wanting to walk away from tennis.
"I definitely don't love the sport. I like it to a degree, but I don't love it. It's been tough for me waking up everyday with negative messages. People don't really know what goes on in my life. I've read a lot of what's been said about me. I've read a whole lot. Comments like 'he shouldn't be representing Australia', 'he's a disgrace'. It's tough to read. I'm human. I don't really want them to love me. I don't want their love, but everyone deserves respect.
"I'm not going to change who I am or how I behave on the court. I think that's something that makes me a good tennis player – the amount of belief I have in myself and how I back myself. The way I talk to the crowd and do all that stuff, that's when I play my best tennis. I'm not asking everyone to love me but at least know me as a person first before you judge me. I don't write bad tweets about anyone else. I don't say anything bad about anyone else. I'm not this person everyone thinks I am."
The criticism has stunned the world No.29 from the nation's capital.
He admits it has been weighing on him, placing doubts in his mind over who he should be and how he should play.
Mix that together with a rift between Tennis Australia and his close mate Bernard Tomic, as well as a search for a new coach, and it's been a combustible mixture for Kyrgios, who said to himself on court on Monday: "thinking about far too irrelevant stuff out here – it's unbelievable".
"I don't try and be anyone else when I'm on the court," Kyrgios told Fairfax Media.
"I try and just play the game and get emotional here and there. At the end of the day I'm just shocked with what's happened. I'm just really shocked on how people have responded and reacted and what they've said. I'm really shocked."
One of the biggest things weighing him down is the condition of his grandfather, who is suffering from cancer.
Fairfax Media understands Kyrgios didn't want to play in Wimbledon because he wanted to be at home with his grandfather, but those closest to him urged him to play on.
The 20-year-old, who lost his grandmother a few days after Wimbledon last year, choked up when asked about his grandfather, unable to talk about it.
"There's a lot of stuff going through my head," Kyrgios said.
"It should be simple but right now it's not really that simple. I'm questioning how I'm behaving on court, questioning how I should be playing. When all that other stuffs weighing you down, you know you're not going to play your best tennis. There's a lot going on. There's so much other stuff going on that people don't know about which is probably affecting me a bit on court.
"At times I feel lost. I'm questioning what I should do out there and that's a bad thing. I'm a guy that's always played on instinct on the tennis court. That's how I should be...."