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Nick Kyrgios said he felt the best he had in two weeks as his loss to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final released an almost-unbearable amount of pressure he felt throughout the tournament.
The Australian, playing in his first Slam final at the age of 27, fell to the world No.1 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) as Djokovic claimed a seventh Wimbledon title and 21st Grand Slam triumph.
Kyrgios admitted to struggling to sleep in the days leading up to Sunday’s decider and went into details post-match about his battle with the pressure, expectation and feedback, good or bad, from fans.
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“It takes a hell of an athlete mentally and physically to win one of these things. Eight people have won this title since I was born and it shows,” Kyrgios said.
“Physically is one thing. Mentally it’s another beast but to come back here, two weeks in a row. None of these people in this room will understand it but it’s just different. The social media, the things you have to deal with .
“For me it hasn’t been easy the last three or four days to block everything out, on socials and everything. Just try and find the balance.
“It’s so easy to access all that stuff and I really made a conscious effort to just really focus on the task at hand and I don’t think past tennis players understand that either, the older guys, they don’t understand how much negativity and opinions just get thrown your way and it’s hard, it’s really hard to deal with all that.
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“I commend Federer, Djokovic, and Nadal . These guys, what they deal with must be insane. That for me shows the sign of a champion . If that’s what they deal with as well, and being able to perform. That’s incredible.”
Kyrgios revealed the sheer relief he felt in defeat, even though he believed he could win the final.
“I lost this match but I feel like just a weight off my shoulders. So much weight on my shoulders all the time. Now it’s just release and I feel amazing. This is the best I’ve felt in two weeks,” Kyrgios said.
“I was obviously super excited to be here and I had some high hopes but I’ve never felt, to be honest, good. I just felt so much pressure, so much anxiety to do things and achieve things and if I don’t .. It’s just so much.
“I feel unbelievable (now). I’m two beers deep.”
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