Nick Kyrgios admits he was ‘almost done with the sport’ not so long ago after monumental Wimbledon win
Nick Kyrgios has somehow surprised even himself by reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon, revealing that he thought he had missed his chance to truly take his shot at a Slam.
The first-time Wimbledon semi-finalist put on a consummate display against Cristian Garin to win 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) and reach the last four in a tough encounter that the Aussie admitted was not reflected in the scoreline.
In disbelief of his own achievement, Kyrgios was calm and collected in his post-match press conference.
“As I said on court, I never thought that I would be here,” he opened his presser, adding he thought his Major-winning ship had sailed.
Before his on-court interview, Kyrgios took a good couple of minutes in his chair courtside to take in the moment.
Given the Aussie has spoken about how often his mind will be racing with a million thought at once, Tennishead asked him what was going through his head in that one special moment.
“Just how things can change,” Kyrgios replied. “There was a point where I was almost done with the sport.
“Obviously I posted this year about the kind of mental state I was in in 2019 when I was at the Australian Open with self-harm and suicidal thoughts and stuff.
“If you asked anyone if I was able to [reach a Wimbledon semi-final] the last couple years, I think everyone would have probably said ‘No, he doesn’t have the mental capacity, he doesn’t have the fitness capacity, he doesn’t have the discipline, all that.
“I almost started doubting myself with all that traffic coming in and out of my mind. Today, I just sat there today and soaked it all in.”
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Kyrgios put across how grateful he was to everyone close to him, and how many people he wanted to thank.
But the 27-year-old is only as far as the last four, with potentially two matches left to play.
“I feel like I don’t want to stop here either,” he added.
Next up, the maverick talent takes on familiar rival Rafael Nadal in their third career Wimbledon meeting, the pair splitting their head-to-head 1-1.
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