Remarkable title triumph exposes massive Nick Kyrgios lie
In winning his sixth-career title at the Washington Open on Sunday, Nick Kyrgios has seemingly made a mockery of claims he’ll never be successful unless he shows more professionalism.
A number of tennis greats have hit out at Kyrgios over the years for his lack of professionalism, not training hard and failing to take his preparation seriously.
That didn’t cease in Washington this week, with Kyrgios preparing for one match by playing table tennis and complaining about staying up too late the night before another.
So ‘professional’ has the sport become, such a high bar set in terms of skill, fitness and sportsmanship by the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, that a genuine maverick like Kyrgios should have no chance.
But by storming to the title on Sunday, Kyrgios showed he can do things his way and still be successful.
It might not ever result in grand slam glory, but that doesn’t seem to matter to him.
When he puts it all together, Kyrgios can match it with any payer on the tour.
His 5-1 record against top 10 players this year - the best on tour - is the perfect example of that.
Opponent Daniil Medvedev even admitted as much in his runner-up speech.
"We all know how Nick can play when he wants to, and this week I think he wanted to play,” Medvedev said in a tongue-in-cheek dig at Kyrgios.
Federer and Nadal, with 38 grand slam titles between them, are revered by fans, media and fellow pros alike, as is Djokovic, even if the Serb is not hero-worshipped to quite the same degree.
In contrast, Kyrgios has little regard for popularity contests and likes nothing more than thumbing his nose at tennis convention, whether with his eclectic shot-making or relaxed attitude to the sport’s etiquette.
We see it with his underarm serves and the way he asked a member of the crowd where to serve the final point in three-straight matches.
Kyrgios firms as US Open dark horse
A focused Kyrgios now looms as a danger at the US Open after capping off a sensational week by securing his second ATP Tour 500 series title of the year.
Despite a troublesome back, Kyrgios fired 18 aces on his way to a 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-4) victory over Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev, the World No.10.
Kyrgios backed up his semi-final victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas with a second career win over Medvedev - the result improving his winning percentage against top 10 players to 83.
"It's amazing. Where I was six months ago, some of the things I was doing, I was just putting myself in a really tough situation and to respond like this, having incredible support, it's amazing," Kyrgios said in his post-match interview on court.
"I've had people behind me, backing me and never lost faith in me, even though I lost it in myself."
The 24-year-old will pocket $365,390 ($A537,830) for his sixth ATP tournament success.
More importantly he will rise 25 spots to world No.27 when the rankings are updated on Monday and is in line for a seeding at the year's final grand slam later this month.
Although he seemed to care little about that.
"It's important (but) at the end of the day I don't care about rankings at all," Kyrgios said.
"I just want to grow as a person, as a human, and if that comes along tennis will come with it.
"Just small habits every day, trying to get better."
with AAP
