Nick Kyme has announced he is taking an ?extended break? from squash after three testing years on the professional tour.

But the 25-year-old is refusing to rule out a possible return to the pro ranks despite admitting that he is utterly disillusioned with both the game and the lifestyle.

The Island?s best ever squash player left Bermuda in September with the intention of spending the season based in Belgium, training with one of the world?s most highly-regarded coaches in Australian Shaun Moxham.

But after losing in the first round of four straight tournaments ? the culmination of three years of hard toil where defeats have far outnumbered victories ? a disenchanted Kyme flew home on Wednesday night and is now looking for another job.

Speaking to yesterday, the world number 73 conceded he was both physically and mentally spent and that the passion he had always felt for the sport was gone.

?I?ve been treading water for the last 12 months,? said Kyme.

?I?m just not enjoying it any more ? and when that happens it?s time to think very carefully about whether there?s much of a future in it. I haven?t been playing well, I?ve been losing a lot of matches that really I should have won and my confidence is the lowest it?s ever been.

?When I first got on the tour three years ago, all the travelling, competing and training was exciting and I loved it. But three years on, the guys that I joined the pro tour with are either in the world?s top 30 and making it, or are not and have gone off and are doing other things.

?I have been finding myself at tournaments with guys who were like me ? all excited about starting their squash careers ? while I am now just completely the opposite.?

Unlike sports like tennis or golf, where it would be possible to make a decent living if ranked inside the world?s top 80, in squash it is an entirely different matter.

The game?s comparatively limited global profile, coupled with the absence of any sizeable television deals means only the world?s top 20 can make anything like a respectable wage.

Kyme conceded that the pressure of being constantly hard-up had finally got to him.

?Money is definitely an issue,? he said.

?If I could make a living where I am now then I would probably keep going, but I?m actually losing money and I?m tired of the fact that I cannot support myself and I am dependent on other people.

?I?m 25 years old, I have debts and I?ve never been in a position since leaving college where I?ve been able to start paying them off.?

While Kyme?s principal strength as a squash player is his strength and athleticism, recently his normally reliable body has begun to break down on him as well.

?I really should have had surgery on my ankle a couple of years ago,? he said.

?My ankle hurts, my knees hurt and my back hurts as well, so physically I?m not in a good position right now which has been making all the training that I?m supposed to be doing more difficult. I can get away with it now, but the last thing I want is to be hobbling around in my 30s.?

Despite all this, when asked whether he is quitting for good, Kyme said that he is still being encouraged by some to give it another shot, and that after a couple of months off he ?might feel differently about things?.

But even if he does decide he?s had enough, Kyme insisted he had absolutely no regrets and is extremely grateful for all the opportunities the game has given him. ?I certainly don?t regret the decision to turn professional, even though it hasn?t worked out exactly as I would have liked,? he said.

?I have met a lot of different people, travelled to a lot of different places and had plenty of good times as well.

?I love squash really and though at the moment I?d rather not go anywhere near a squash court for a while, I still appreciate the opportunities it has given me.

?I?ve represented Bermuda at three Commonwealth Games, I was given a wildcard into the Bermuda Open and the Bermuda Masters, I?ve been to world championships and the Pan Am Games.

?All those things I look back on with a lot of pride and I will be forever grateful to the Bermuda Squash Racquets Association and to people like Ross Triffitt (the BSRA?s squash director).

?But for now I?m looking forward to some time off and I?m concentrating on other things.?