Nick Kyrgios has turned the script around in all its schtick before the Wimbledon final, proving that he was trying to put the wool in our eyes.
Nick Kyrgios didn’t even want to be a tennis player.
For years he has lamented the fact that he ended up wielding a racket instead of diving into a basketball court.
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The Australian star expresses his love for the NBA on social media and has not apologized for spending more time playing hoops than in the gym or practicing for upcoming tennis tournaments.
For outsiders, Kyrgios has been blessed with a rare skill that few on the planet could ever dream of. To the man himself, it sometimes seemed more like a curse.
He has told us repeatedly that tennis is not, nor will it ever be, close to the most important thing in his life. His family, his charitable foundation and a healthy work-life balance are much higher on the list of priorities.
Tennis, in essence, has been a way to pay the bills, rather than a love job as it is for most professionals on the ATP and WTA circuits.
Kyrgios has stated in the past that he doesn’t care what his critics think, a position he reinforced at Wimbledon this year, where he has advanced to an inaugural Grand Slam final against Novak Djokovic on Sunday night.
“Honestly, I don’t care,” Kyrgios said of his haters during the week. “I just smile. It’s a lot of fun. I joke with my team about it. It’s fun.
“I almost get up and read things, and just get rich. And I never forget the things people say, either three or four years ago, things that stay with me.
“I have a huge chip on my shoulder. Now I’m sitting here … and I just know there are so many people who are so upset.”
Kyrgios has made it his mission to give the impression that he doesn’t care when it comes to tennis. Entertainment, not necessarily winning, is what makes it go away. This is what we have been led to believe.
That may be true, but at least in part, has it been a bit of an illusion? Perhaps he was just a public figure that Kyrgios adopted, a way to protect himself from the real burning of not living up to his potential or achieving the results his talent guarantees.
Addressing reporters at a pre-press conference in London, Kyrgios was as sincere as usual but, surprisingly, more vulnerable than ever in terms of his attitude on the track. He said he won or lost, he would still be happy because, at 27, he thought his chance to make an important decision had passed him by.
But there was evidence that Kyrgios really cares. That’s why he’s been awake at night thinking about his next appearance on the central track, full of nerves.
As so many athletes have told us over the years, nerves are good. They show you care.
“Last night I had a shocking dream, honestly,” Kyrgios said Friday night, after learning he had made it to the final because Rafael Nadal had retired from the semifinals due to injury.
“I probably slept an hour with everything, like excitement.
“I was so anxious, I already felt so nervous and I don’t usually feel nervous.
“I know there are a lot of people who want me to do well and give my best.
“There are certainly times when I hate this sport, but there are times when I think I am one of the most competitive people I have ever met. I love tennis, but I love to compete. I love facing someone, and I love the win-win aspect of the sport in general. So I don’t know if that will ever change. “
Then there was the plea — though it was — that only gave a clue that perhaps all expectations in Kyrgios do not fade as easily as he wants us to believe. Maybe he really cares what people think of him.
“If I lift a Grand Slam trophy, please don’t pressure me to win another one,” he said.
“Maybe it was full of it”: Kyrgios’ “admission” suggests that he really cares
The change in Kyrgios has been noticed by tennis experts who watched him closely at Wimbledon.
Broadcaster Catherine Whitaker said that while Canberran has been “quite unpleasant” and “unpleasant” at times in London, whether with opponents, officials or journalists, it is impossible not to appreciate the new light with which he is seeing his post. in All England. Club.
“One thing I enjoyed about Nick Kyrgios was admitting how much he cares,” Whitaker said. The tennis podcast, which she co-presents. “And we’ve always known he cares, and all this‘ it doesn’t matter ’or performatively‘ it doesn’t matter ’is a great defense mechanism.
“I know I’m doing armchair psychology again, but I feel pretty confident in it.
“I like to just say it (which matters to him). He says, ‘I’m nervous, I’m very nervous.’ I don’t usually get nervous but I do. ‘
“I want this one and I’m happy to say you want it.
“He’s not talking about how he’d rather be a basketball player, and he just does it (playing tennis) because he can and makes a lot of money, and I’m glad. I’m glad he respects the sport and the event enough to say aloud.
“And himself, too. Because he has a chance to be Wimbledon champion, a real opportunity and it goes without saying that this is huge.”
Whitaker co-presenter The tennis podcastBBC commentator David Law, was another who appreciates Kyrgios treating this opportunity with the maturity it is.
“I agree that it’s best to hear him talk (about care), especially in this scenario, and not just try to discuss it or do it lightly,” Law said.
“And, in fact, it seems a bit of an admission that, ‘Maybe I was wrong, maybe I was full of it.’
“All the time we suspected he cared and that was just a defense mechanism, as you say, but that seems like an admission of that, really.
“It simply came to our notice then. It’s good that he talked about the process throughout the tournament and that’s what brought him here. He’s always had talent, no, but there he didn’t go beyond a quarterfinal.
“So something has changed in the way he does his day-to-day business. He’s confident in that, here are the results.”
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