“People love Kyrgios,” Mats Wilander compares Nick Kyrgios’ popularity with Roger Federer and Andy Murray’s at Wimbledon


“People love Kyrgios,” Mats Wilander compares Nick Kyrgios’ popularity with Roger Federer and Andy Murray’s at Wimbledon

Nick Kyrgios and Mats Wilander

When Nick Kyrgios came up to give his on court interview after winning his 4th round match, his red cap and red footwear did not go unnoticed by the purists and traditionalists.

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He’s always in the news. Everyone is watching him. If he’s slated to play on a day, you are not moving from your drawing room couch because a lot can happen even before the first toss of the ball for serve. It shouldn’t startle any of his supporters that he’s often subject to a lot of criticism.

“I think those people are mostly people inside tennis who are afraid more people might start crossing the line; there are rules,” said seven-time Grand Slam champion from Sweden, Mats Wilander.

“Fans are more excited to have him in the tournament than probably any other player in the history of our sport apart from Roger Federer and Andy Murray at Wimbledon. People love Kyrgios here.”

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A visit to any of the courts to inspect the crowd when Nick is playing his matches would be a good starting point to measure the veracity of the statement. Most of us won’t be able to do that so let’s just follow his matches.

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‘We might have a different Nick Kyrgios in the future than the one that we have seen for the last six, seven years’: Mats Wilander

Nick Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios

The roars of the audience when he wins and sad reactions when he loses do not leave us with a lot of uncertainty about who’s the crowd favorite. Wilander added: “He’s more dedicated. You can see it physically, he’s in better shape. Mentally you can see it. He’s still Nick Kyrgios but he is focused on most of the points and is focused on winning. He was out there to win.”

In one of his on-court interviews after winning the 2nd round match in Wimbledon 2022, Jenny Drummond asked the 28-year-old Aussie about his comments in what was termed a “master class “. Kyrgios ended that answer by saying “it’s also just to remind everyone how good I am” with a very serious look on his face. Many of us could spot a bit of cockiness but it is exactly what makes him so different from all others. After all, how many of the pro tennis players we know reply with “Because I do what I want” – when questioned about why he wore those couple of red color things.

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“I would have to say that is the one thing that I’m really looking forward to this week because you don’t know if this is what will happen. We might have a different Nick Kyrgios in the future than the one that we have seen for the last six, seven years,” Wilander said.

His overt nature of mentioning and doing the unusual notwithstanding, this is the first time Kyrgios has made a Grand Slam quarter-final since the 2015 Australian Open – his home tournament where he can boast of an envious partisan crowd. This week in London most definitely has a separate air to what Nick has majorly done throughout his career. The kind of aura that he carries with himself makes you want to follow him in whatever he does.

All of that would have amounted to little had he not been one of the names that would step out on the court to advance to the last 4 in Wimbledon 2022. His tennis pyrotechnics have been so good that it gives him an edge against his QF opponent- 26-year-old Chilean Cristian Garin who’s never made it to these stages before. How much more memorable can this year be for Nick Kyrgios?

Also Read: “Inner fight is always the biggest” Novak Djokovic makes a ferocious comeback to defeat Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinal of Wimbledon 2022

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