Nick Kyrgios is known to have lost his temper on a tennis court.
Whether it’s the referee, a line judge, his opponent, a crowd member or … just about anything else, the 27-year-old certainly carries his frustrations up his sleeve.
But he is being praised for taking a measured approach when the great Australian Wally Masur admits he “would have lost it”.
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Kyrgios won two sets to love in their Wimbledon quarterfinal clash with Chilean player Cristian Garin, and the pair were blocked in a third set tiebreaker.
Nick Kyrgios reacts to a call-up during his Wimbledon quarter-final victory over Cristian Garin. (Getty)
With 6-5 and at the game point, a deep return from Kyrgios hit the bottom line, but the line judge called it. The umpire canceled and ordered the point to be played again.
Instead of losing it completely and asking for the tournament referee, just as he did earlier in the tournament against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Kyrgios recovered and won the repeat point to secure his first place in the tournament. Grand Slam semifinal.
“I think there would have been a lot of players who have become ballistic in what happened at the match point,” Masur told Stan Sports ’Grand Slam Daily.
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“You have to remember that he fell in the first set, that was important, he turns it around and wins the first set. He lost 5-3 in the tiebreak of the third set.
“Losing that, and we know what Garin did with (his Aussie Alex teammate) de Minaur, when de Minaur was about to win in threes (sets), (Garin) turned it into an arm wrestling and went to win.
“Nick is very aware of that. He basically wins a game point, the referee sinks and makes a bad call, they have to play two. But he kept it together, and I think if there was any moment as a player, you could lose it, it could be that.
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“I would have lost it, I promise. That would make my head spin.”
Kyrgios has reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam twice in his career, the most memorable at Wimbledon when he was a teenager, but he never got that far in almost a decade of touring.
He seems to be in one of the best conditions of his career and is now facing an injured Rafael Nadal to take a place in the tournament decision.
Masur believes Kyrgios is playing smarter than ever, and his victory over Garin is an example.
Kyrgios to the Wimbledon semifinals
“The obvious choice would have been to go with power, but I think he understood that there is no easy way through Garin,” Masur said.
“He played a lot of extended base rallies and waited for opportunities, waited for time and space.
“That was good to see, he was right at the time.”
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