When Nick Kyrgios finishes his 2015 season he will be marred by one incident which has overshadowed his on court achievements. When the Australian said during a match against Stan Wawrinka ‘Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend’, he never anticipated the whirlwind of criticism that came his way. The ATP handed him a six-month suspended sentence and a $25,000 fine. The controversy was a low-point in the short career of Kyrgios but at the same time it was a valuable lesson that could make him a greater player.
Leading up to the ‘Wawrinka incident’, there were some doubts cast over Kyrgios on court antics, including allegations of tanking during his match against Richard Gasquet in Wimbledon. An allegation which he has denied. The 20-year-old has the talent to be amongst the best in the world which he has demonstrated by reaching the quarter-final at two Grand Slam tournaments but his attitude was questionable.
Since the incident, there are signs that the world No.34 is starting to calm down on the tour. In the lead up to last week’s Malaysian Open, where he reached the semi-finals before losing to Feliciano Lopez, he said that he feel that he has matured.
“I think I just feel more matured coming into the tournament this year,” said Kyrgios.
“I didn’t think so much about events like this last year, but I realised I have to be consistent all round as it will help me in my rankings and seedings”.
The comments showed a more grown up Austrailian compared to the mass media portrayals of him being the ‘bad-boy’ of the tennis world. He was reflective and realistic about what he has to do to succeed on the tour. The state of a player’s mental ability is crucial in tennis. Novak Djokovic didn’t put his recent US Open triumph down to his physical ability. Instead, he said that it was his ‘mental toughness’ that enabled him to beat Roger Federer in the final.
Roger Federer once said that ‘criticism can be used as a fuel’ to improve. Kyrgios has described the 17-time Grand Slam champion as one of his idols during numerous interviews. The wise words said by the Swiss are ones that his 20-year-old rival should use to his advantage. Until he conducts a similar approach, he will never achieve his full potential.
The hype about the talent of Kyrgios has discussed by numerous players (both current and former) with the most recent being Boris Becker. Describing Kyrgios as a future world No.1, he also called for the Australian to work on his mentality.
“I think what happened in Wimbledon, the US hard court season was a learning curve for him. If he gets his mentality together, if he gets the right guys around him, he’s a future number one”. Becker said.
In 2015 Kyrgios reached his first ATP final is Estoril where he lost to Richard Gasquet. He also stunned Roger Federer in the second round of the Madrid Open in May. With a current win-loss of 18-15 this year, the next task for the 20-year-old will be to improve on his consistency. He is known for shining on the main stages of tennis, but not so much in the lower profile tournaments.
Kyrgios has the potential to be the future of men’s tennis when the ‘big four’ retire, but his ability currently hangs in the balance. Without a strong support network, both mental and physical, he could finish his career not reaching his full potential. This is a scenario that would be sad not just for the Australian, but for the entire ATP Tour.
