“I’ve come a long way, that’s for sure,” Nick Kyrgios narrates a funny incident where he was in a pub till 4 am before facing Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon
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Nick Kyrgios
It’s been a memorable week for Nick Kyrgios in London so far. He’s had some skirmishes, but more importantly, finds himself in the last 8.
Imagine someone asking you to close your eyes and think of the first picture that comes to your mind when someone takes the name of Nick Kyrgios. I’d wager for it to be some sort of a gimmick that doesn’t belong to the vicinity of things strictly pertaining to tennis.
“In 2019 my agent had to come to get me out of a pub at 4:00 AM before I played Nadal. This year I have a different mindset. I’ve come a long way, that’s for sure,” Kyrgios shared recently.
If you are someone who’s followed his career from the early days, you won’t be very surprised to hear the first line. You would’ve probably been taken aback if this was said for a relatively much more player like Medvedev or a Thiem. Or even fall off your chair if this was for one of the big 3 of our generation.
But it doesn’t seem very outrageous for Kyrgios. If he’s a regular person who makes it to the main draws of all Grand Slam events, you’d not necessarily bet for him to make it past the first week.
Nick Kyrgios’ brilliant run at Wimbledon 2022
He’s made some serious advancements this time around in Wimbledon 2022. In his much-talked-about encounter with Tsitsipas, more than 70% of his first serves went in, winning more than 80% of those points. He arrived at the net on 35 occasions and won 23 of those points. He hit fewer unforced errors (31) than his Greek counterpart (35) and unleashed more winners (61) than Tsitsipas (57). These numbers show that he maintained better standards of play throughout their exchange, much to his opponent’s chagrin.
If you focus on the 3rd set stats of that particular game, there were only 3 parameters in which Tsitsipas had performed equally better – sending down 2 aces, 50% of second serves points won, and 8 winners. Nick was ahead in all other stat comparisons.
So when he says about having a different mindset and its role in taking him a long way deep into this competition, there’s little we can do other than believe him. There’s an added fire in his belly to establish that he’s more than just a player who comes and makes a mark because of the things he does away from the technicalities of tennis. He’s clearly been more focused and is currently reaping rewards for a slight tweak in his approach. It remains to be seen how long will this dream run continue.
Also Read: Wimbledon 2022: Novak Djokovic vs Jannik Sinner Live Stream, Match Timings, Prediction, and Preview
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Dwaipayan Mukherjee
(10 Articles Published)