Reason why Nick Kyrgios risks leaving a negative legacy

11/13/2024 05:00 PM

When he entered the professional tour, many thought that Nick Kyrgios would become a great champion. Fans certainly remember his stunning victory over Rafael Nadal at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, as well as his amazing exploits against Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Thanks to his unpredictable and spectacular game, the Australian ace could really have made history in the sport. However, his career has been characterized by too many ups and downs throughout its duration. Nick seemed to have changed his attitude in 2022, when he worked a lot on his body and played the best tennis of his career in the second half of the season.

Kyrgios used his excellent serve to reach the final at the Wimbledon Championships, losing to Nole Djokovic in four sets. The player from Canberra achieved a great feat by defeating Daniil Medvedev at the next US Open and expressed the desire to win at least one Grand Slam title before retiring, but the last year and a half has been disastrous.

The Australian champion has had some serious injuries that have put the continuation of his career at serious risk and - as things currently stand - there is no certain date for his return to the field. Fans and insiders hope that Nick will win at least one big title before starting the second chapter of his life.

Throughout his whole career, the 2022 Wimbledon finalist has not always had professional behavior off the court. Kyrgios has never followed the typical lifestyle of a professional athlete, which is why he has never been consistent and has also had many injuries.

Recently, the Australian player recalled experiencing a very bad moment in his life a few years ago: "2019 was the worst year. That was a bad period. I guess I was just struggling with being who I was. It was hard at that time. I was playing. I didn't think I could take a step back from the sport. I wanted to work on myself and get myself in the right headspace.

It was just playing and playing and playing and dealing with everything and it was a dark time. I was drinking and I was spiraling out of control. I was continuing to play and travel. It was a lot. 20 to 30 drinks, easy. I was drinking like a fish. Anything, vodka. And then wake up and play Nadal the next day."

Nick has expressed a desire to return to play on the ATP tour to try to win a Major title, but there is great uncertainty regarding his physical shape. The Australian ace has incredible talent and can put even current top players in trouble if he plays at his best level, but he has been away from the court for a long time and his motivations are to be evaluated.

In addition, Kyrgios is only willing to continue his career if he has the chance to win the most important titles. The Australian does not want to settle for a secondary role as two legends like Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal did in the latter part of their careers. On the latest edition of ‘The Louis Theroux Podcast’, Nick opened up on his future: "I look at how Andy Murray's doing it now, and how Rafael Nadal is going out, I don't want to be like that either. I don't want to be kind of crawling to the finish line in a sense. What Andy Murray's achieved in this sport is second to basically no-one ... unless you are Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, or Nadal, like, the next person is Andy Murray. It's like you've achieved everything. You deserve to go out, I think, a little bit more gracefully than he's done. I think that the surgeries, the pain, it's just not worth it, in my opinion."

At 29, Kyrgios would still have time to return to the highest levels, but he will have to work on his mind and body like he has never done before. “I played that amazing year in 2022. Then at the finals in Wimbledon and US Open, that's when I started feeling some issues in my wrist. I had that wrist reconstruction and now I'm feeling amazing” – he stated.

The Australian ace is still worried: "I honestly didn't feel improvement in my wrist. I started hitting fluffy balls that Under-10s used to learn on. I had to teach my right wrist all over again. I've already won in my eyes. Now everything I do on the tennis court, whether I win a match or a tournament or anything like that, is going to be a bonus."