Kyrgios calls 2016 season a successful one

SYDNEY (AP) Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios says he regards his 2016 season as a successful one, though he ended the year under a ban from the ATP Tour for on-court misbehavior.

In an interview with Australia's Fox Sports on Monday, the 21-year-old Kyrgios said 2016 ''had a lot of highs, a lot of lows'' but had to be counted as successful as he lifted his world ranking from 30 to 13.

Kyrgios won three titles, including a maiden ATP 500 series victory in Tokyo, but his achievements were overshadowed by clashes with officials and fans and by the under-performance at the Shanghai Masters which led to his eight-week ban from the tour.

''I did a lot of fun things,'' Kyrgios said of 2016. ''I got Australia back in the world group of the Davis Cup, won a couple of titles, so it's been a good year.''

Kyrgios' eight-week ban was reduced to three weeks when he agreed to consult a sports psychologist.

''I've been doing that and it's actually been good,'' he said. ''Just relaxing a little bit, spending more time with my family, girlfriend as well.

''It's one way to look at (it), to get more time off with the people that you love, and I've been training as well. So it's set me up in good stead for 2017. It just gave me time to think about and analyze everything I've got to get better at.''