“I am only sad,” John McEnroe reveals he is ‘begging’ Nick Kyrgios to play the Laver Cup after the Australian dropped retirement bomb
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John McEnroe and Nick Kyrgios
World No. 25 Nick Kyrgios, the 23rd seed at the 2022 US Open is into his first US Open quarter-final and second Grand Slam quarter-final of the season after he took down defending champion and World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in 4-sets in the 4th round.
Kyrgios has revamped himself this season as the Australian reached the finals of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, won his first Tour singles title since 2019, won the Doubles title at the 2022 Australian Open and is in the race to qualify for ATP Finals in Doubles.
John McEnroe picks Nick Kyrgios to win the 2022 US Open
However, with the win over Medvedev, Kyrgios hinted at retirement in case he wins the US Open title this week as he won’t have any motivation left to continue playing to which former World No. 1 and 7-time singles major winner John McEnroe presented his thoughts.
“Well I’ve got some bad news for you. Ash Barty [retired after winning a major], so it’s not impossible to think that he could do that. We hope he won’t do that because there’s a phrase, I think it’s worldwide – ‘better late than never’.
“That applies to Nick, because he wasn’t professional for a long time, he played a lot of matches where he wasn’t giving it his all, and now you see what he’s capable of when he does. And he trains and he’s in shape and the guy’s phenomenal.
“First of all, I’ve said this before, the guy has got one of the greatest serves in the history of tennis. The guy was serving at 70% – I don’t think people realise that’s the highest on tour, how big he serves, how good his second serve is – now he is backing it up big time,” said McEnroe speaking on Eurosport.
“If he plays like he did last night, he is going to win the tournament. The way Kyrgios is serving, I don’t care where you stand. If you stand well back, did you notice he started serving and volleying. The guy is a genius on the court, he doesn’t need a coach, he did an unbelievable job tactically.
“Medvedev was throwing a lot at him – I was saying Medvedev will play long rallies, test him physically and he’ll win most of those points. Guess what? He didn’t even win most of those [longer] points. When Kyrgios gets down on his opponent’s serve he lets it go a little bit, paces himself, manages himself well but he’s also a lot fitter than he has ever been.
“Nick needs to be comfortable with the team that is around him. It’s a tough job sometimes being in Kyrgios’ box – he’s in such a great place mentally and it’s like ‘he’s figured it out’. He’s 27, he’s coming into his prime. I like him, he moves the needle.
“I’m glad he turned it around and I am only sad he is not playing in the Laver Cup. We’re still begging,” added McEnroe further hoping that there is a lot left from Kyrgios to offer while backing him to win the US Open this week.
Also Read: US Open 2022: Nick Kyrgios vs Karen Khachanov Live Stream, Match Timings, Prediction and Preview
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Sarthak Shitole
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