Top
Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon unhappy

‘I deal with it every single day’ reveals Nick Kyrgios on unwanted input


Nick Kyrgios has learned to live with people constantly telling him how to be as a player, plus comments he has underachieved in his career.

The maverick talent burst into the tennis mainstream as a 19-year-old by defeating Rafael Nadal at that year’s Wimbledon.

Kyrgios has since claimed six career titles and a career-high of 13th in the world in October 2016.

For much of his career since his breakthrough, the Australian has contended with people claiming he could have achieved far more in the sport with his talent.

“Every single day of my life I deal with people telling me how to be or how to train or how to hit a forehand,” Kyrgios explained on the No Boundaries podcast.

“I feel that as a 26-year-old I am in a pretty good spot, I help a lot of people, I have a lot of options, I’m healthy, I’ve got great friends and those are my goals right now.

“When I was young I wasn’t thinking about winning Grand Slams, I just wanted to have fun.”

Kyrgios secured his best Slam results early, reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon 2014 and his home Slam the Australian Open in 2015.

The ATP star further explained that he simply never had the drive that the very best players do.

“I love the game but I’m not passionate or driven as [the top players] are,” he adds. “They’re like once in a generation, once in a decade athletes.

“There’s no chance that [Roger] Federer or [Rafael] Nadal or Novak [Djokovic] or [Andy] Murray doesn’t love it.

“If you watch Murray’s documentary, he’s having phone calls in the middle of the night at 3am to his team saying, ‘I’m scared to not play, like I don’t know what I’m going to do without the sport.’ That’s not me.

“You have to pick what you want, do you want fun or more titles? You can have a little balance but I have picked my poison. I am happy.”

“[When people say I could have done more] I just say it’s my life. It’s so easy to tell people what to do.

“You can’t tell people how to live their life.”

? Read >> Breaking tennis news

? Follow >> 24/7 LIVE scores

? Free >> Receive our legendary newsletter

Join >> Tennishead CLUB, the world’s only virtual tennis club

? Social >> Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube

? Order >> World’s best tennis magazine

? Shop >> Lowest price tennis gear from our trusted retail partner