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“Nick, you will be back.”
So said Novak Djokovic on the famous green grass of the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s Centre Court, having beaten Nick Kyrgios to hoist the Wimbledon trophy for a seventh time.
That fortnight felt like a long-hoped-for turning point in the rollercoaster career of the mercurial Australian.
No-one doubted his talent; his ability to match it with the elite of the men’s game and even outgun them.
But hanging over Kyrgios’ head has always been a cloud of doubt; whether the renegade superstar could rein in his emotions, and tame the explosive energy that has often broken through the surface in ugly outbursts.
In a gruelling five-set win in the first round in 2022, Kyrgios raged at fans and the chair umpire as he battled past British wild card Paul Jubb.
In the third round, Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas butted heads like two fearsome bulls.
Kyrgios raged at the umpire, unsuccessfully calling for his fourth-seeded opponent to be defaulted for hitting a ball into the crowd.
Tsitsipas lost his cool, deliberately aiming a shot at the Aussie’s body – and even admitting as much after the match.
Kyrgios won in four sets, but the battle didn’t end there. Tsitsipas labelled the match a ‘circus’ and deemed Kyrgios a ‘bully’ who could be ‘evil’.
Kyrgios hit back: “I didn’t do anything … I did nothing towards Stefanos today that was disrespectful, I don’t think.”
The Canberran was on the edge throughout the tournament, walking a fine line between brilliance and bad taste that he has constantly trod through his career.
But he was winning, and he kept on winning until he secured a berth in the greatest showdown in tennis.
On that 35 degree day last July, as sunshine baked the manicured turf, Kyrgios faced a man who had not lost on Centre Court since 2013. It was the ultimate test of his emotional regulation – playing on the grandest stage against one of the game’s all-time greats, the Serbian superstar renowned for his own mental toughness.
Many wondered whether the Australian would lose his cool in the scorching conditions. From the start, the maddening brilliance of the man was on full display – in his opening service game, Kyrgios flicked an underarm serve (almost certainly the first ever in a Wimbledon final) and banged home a second-serve ace.
He kept his cool for the opening set and much of the second, playing at a staggeringly high standard – and indeed with Djokovic looking the more nervy of the pair. The Serbian had struggled early on in his previous matches, but responded to losing the first set 4-6 by immediately breaking Kyrgios and putting the Aussie firmly on the back foot.
By the end of the second set, Kyrgios was unravelling. He turned on his box, on chair umpire Renaud Lichtenstein, and at a supporter he claimed was “drunk out of her mind” and “looks like she’s had about 700 drinks”. That allegation would later cost him to the tune of £20,000, donated to a charity chosen by the fan.
But most of all, and like always, he battled with himself.
Kyrgios fell apart late in the third set, with Aussie great Todd Woodbridge saying “he’s self-destructing” and “disengaged mentally.”
Despite a comeback in the fourth to take it to a tie-break, Kyrgios fell short against a champion he would describe immediately afterwards as “a bit of a God”.
Djokovic replied with similarly effusive praise.
“Nick, you’ll be back. Not just at Wimbledon, but in finals,” he said.
He added: “I wish you all the best. I really respect you a lot. I think you’re a phenomenal tennis player and athlete and an amazing talent — you’ve been hearing that for many years but now everything is starting to come together, so I’m sure we’re going to see more of you at the later stages of a grand slam.”
It was high praise – but most were inclined to agree.
Kyrgios seemed to have finally turned the corner in his mentality and desire. Maybe it started on the doubles court, where he won the Australian Open alongside good friend Thanasi Kokkinakis and picked up two more titles in 2022.
But there was no doubt that Wimbledon changed the Australian. Kyrgios followed it up with a quarter-final appearance at the US Open, which besides Wimbledon 2022, was his first grand slam quarterfinal since 2015.
12 months on from his Wimbledon heroics, Kyrgios has walked through the gates at SW19 ready for another bid at the historic slam.
But so much has changed since the giddy heights of last year.
If 2022 saw him have a perfect preparation and a healthy dose of luck in the tournament itself – when Rafael Nadal withdrew to hand him a semi-final walkover – this year has been cruel and painful.
He has played just one match on tour this season – a shock defeat to Yibing Wu earlier this month on the grass of Stuttgart. Having not competed for seven months after knee surgery and a foot injury, he appeared to be struggling with pain in his comeback and seemed far from happy.
“I feel my knee every point. I can’t walk without pain,” he said mid-match.
He moaned about the bounce of the court, a lack of water, and especially having to use coloured towels instead of plain white ones.
He was subsequently forced to skip crucial warm-up tournaments in Halle and Mallorca.
Essentially, he is coming into the toughest tournament in the world completely cold.
It is a stark difference to last year, when he reached the semi-finals at both Stuttgart and Halle, and including Wimbledon the Australian finished with a 12-3 record for the grass court season.
John McEnroe this week said the Aussie’s ‘commitment’ and fitness last year was a key reason he reached the final.
“I remember seeing him last year in terms of his training, he looked fitter, he was moving better, he was more committed. And look what it resulted in. He was able to get to a Wimbledon final.
“To me, he would be a major threat on grass if he is on. No one wants to play him, that I can assure you of. Obviously, if he’s back and fit and mentally sort of focused, he’s going to give it his all, then yes he can be a threat,” McEnroe said.
But after months without high-intensity matches, whether Kyrgios is fit and focused enough to go deep is a major concern.
Even last year, mere minutes after the final, Kyrgios questioned whether he himself would ever return to a grand slam decider.
Asked if he had a burning desire to go one step further in the future, he replied: “Absolutely not. I’m so tired, honestly.
“Myself, my team, I think we’re all exhausted, we played so much tennis. I definitely need a well earned vacation after this one.
“I’m just really happy with this result, it’s probably the best of my career and maybe one day I will be here again, but I don’t know about that.”
But if there’s anywhere that brings out the best in the Australian, it’s the hallowed turf of Wimbledon.
Asked last week why he is so passionate about the tournament, he told the ATP Tour: “I think it’s just Wimbledon in general.
“Just the accommodation, in terms of staying right next to the courts, to just stepping foot on that site. You just feel like that’s tennis.
“Every other tournament is tennis, obviously, but there’s something about Wimbledon that just breathes it. There’s so much culture there and that’s where it kind of began. So, I think I’m really happy that my best result ever at a singles Grand Slam was at Wimbledon. I think that’s just an incredible thing to [be able to] say.”
As for the weight of expectations after last year’s stunning charge?
“I think if anything it’s going to help me, the fact that I’ve already posted such a good result there and I know that Centre Court so well,” said Kyrgios. “I know what I need to do to be successful. I think all the pressure is off me, to be honest.
“I think that people always say once you have results, that’s when the pressure starts kicking in. But for me, it’s been the reverse my whole career. When I’ve won tournaments or when I’ve done really well, it’s almost the opposite. It’s almost like you’ve proven yourself and now you can actually just relax and have some fun with it.
“I don’t think I’ve got anything left to prove in my career to be honest. I’ve beaten some amazing players, won some really big tournaments, [made the] final of a Grand Slam, won a doubles Grand Slam. I feel like now, this is why you work. So you can actually have fun and just enjoy it.”
It’s hardly a surprise Kyrgios has a unique understanding of pressure – after all, his approach to tennis has always been different. There was little expectation on the Aussie when he burst into the limelight in 2014, surging into the top 100 with a stunning Wimbledon run that included an all-time upset over Rafael Nadal.
That match introduced Kyrgios to stardom and the world to his all-entertainment style, with a ‘tweener going viral and quickly labelled the shot of the year.
Since then, he has delivered no shortage of stunning moments – and more than a few shocking blow-ups. And while his explosive attitude might be an uncomfortable match with the prim and proper All-England Club, last year proved he well and truly belongs.
Taking to social media this week, he posted a picture of himself walking into Wimbledon, captioned: “Some say I don’t fit in here … I show them my resumé”.
On form and fitness, he’s unlikely to add another grand slam final – or an elusive maiden title – to his resume this fortnight.
The 28-year-old Australian may have missed his golden opportunity to triumph on the sport’s most revered stage.
Indeed, he said last year: “I feel like a Grand Slam final doesn’t come around so often for us normal players. Obviously Federer, Nadal, Djokovic played a ton of Grand Slam finals, but that was like the golden opportunity I felt for me. Going up a set as well.”
He might never have a better chance to win a major. But you can never write him off, especially if Kyrgios can shrug off the pressure and ‘have some fun’, rather than get caught up wrestling with his mental demons.
And while the man who beat him, Novak Djokovic, is favourite to go all the way for an eighth time, the Aussie still believes he can get revenge for last year’s defeat.
Speaking in Stuttgart about the chance of anyone beating Djokovic at Wimbledon, Kyrgios said: “No one, no. If it’s not me, no one.”
There’s no one quite like Nick.
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