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Nick Kyrgios talks of how he was inspired by Roger Federer, emulated his game around Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
“The mental side of the game is huge and extremely important. He needs to prove that.” Andy Murray is one of Nick Kyrgios’ biggest fans, but can the talented but volatile Australian stay focused under pressure to win a Grand Slam title?
The mercurial Kyrgios is known for getting embroiled in mid-match antics from upsetting umpires, line-judges, and fellow players to leaving spectators dismayed by his use of inappropriate language.
Code violations are all part and parcel of daily life for the 23-year-old, who has plenty of pressure heaped on his broad shoulders as he seeks a maiden Grand Slam breakthrough. Kyrgios remains unpredictable, but he is so hugely talented that he cannot be ignored.
Grass is Kyrgios’ best surface and the quarter-final he reached on his Wimbledon debut in 2014 is still his joint best Grand Slam performance. If he can stay fit and mentally in the game, he will take some stopping.
Kyrgios arrived at Wimbledon having recorded 376 aces in 2018 and a remarkable 80 per cent success rate with his first serve points. He unleashed 42 winners to see off Robin Haase at the All England Club on Thursday and next faces Japan’s Kei Nishikori.
If he can maintain this level of play then Wimbledon can be his jewel in the crown to add to his four ATP career titles.
Kyrgios’ critics feel that his spate of ‘hot-dogging’ during matches might win him fans, but won’t win him majors.
“Well, apparently I’m not going to win Wimbledon doing that,” Kyrgios jokingly told one journalist at Queen’s Club.
“I just do it because it’s fun. I have always been like that. I have always just played on instinct when I was young. I don’t do it just for crowd-pleasing. I just do it because it’s what I want to do out there.”
Highlights of a quite amazing semi-final between Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev at the 2017 China Open
It seems almost inconceivable to think Kyrgios rarely practises his serve, preferring to let the aces come naturally – something he has been doing on a regular basis since the age of 12.
“I will never, ever go out on the practice court and hit serves just for the sake of hitting serves,” he said. “I always play points out of the hand and maybe roll my arm over maybe five, 10 times and that’s it.
“It’s always been like this for me. My serve has been like this ever since I was a little kid. It was my best shot. I always based my game around it. It was one shot where I didn’t really practice much at all.
“I would hit maybe 10 or 15 serves a day, you know, would just relax and hit it as hard. I guess just one day it started winning me easy points. I was, like, this is better than running!”
Kyrgios retired after losing the first set against Steve Johnson during their first round match in Shanghai last year and was then booed off…
Kyrgios has gone off the rails plenty of times before and attracted plenty of attention for the wrong reasons. He infamously made an obscene remark aimed at US Open champion Stan Wawrinka in 2016 and then stormed off court amid a chorus of boos at the Shanghai Masters last year.
The pantomime villain with a racket as his prop won’t care a jot about his past misdemeanours though. What you see is what you get with him.
Kyrgios pulled off this incredible hot-dog against Zverev in their 2017 Miami quarter-final
Andy Murray is one of his most ardent supporters and believes “there is no reason why he can’t compete” for a Grand Slam but warned the Australian that he must improve his mentality in order to have any chance of glory at the end of a two-week slog.
“I’m pretty sure I’m right in saying this, he served in the two matches after he played me I think he served over 30 aces in back-to-back matches,” former world No 1, Murray said at Queen’s Club. “It’s incredible to be able to do that nowadays because the courts are not unbelievably fast. He’s not just doing that on his first serve. He’s hitting huge second serves as well.
“If he’s able to focus for three, four hours at a time, do it over the space of two weeks, there’s no reason why he can’t compete. If you’re getting that many free points with your serve, they’re just aces. So 30 aces, let’s say in a two-set match, 24 points to win a set, that’s not including the ones that guys just touch and get a racket on, you don’t actually have to win that many points, you know, and play that many long rallies and stuff.
“But the mental side of the game is huge and extremely important. He needs to prove that.”
According to Kyrgios, “stupidity pays a price” but if he can cut out certain elements from his complicated on-court personality then his “competitive” nature will shine through.
“I’m a competitor whether I’m playing [tennis or] computer games. My team will tell you I’m playing FIFA in the house, screaming at the TV. I just miss going out there and competing,” he said.
Kyrgios grew up on grass and feels very comfortable on the surface, so what chance he can make his major breakthrough at the All England Club next week?
From trick shots to jovial arguments with ball boys, whenever Nick Kyrgios is playing you find yourself asking 'What next?'
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