John McEnroe's truth bomb for Nick Kyrgios after Wimbledon dramas

The forensic analysis of Nick Kyrgios has continued in the days since his loss to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final, with John McEnroe suggesting he 'needs Sigmund Freud' to maximise his potential.

In comments that will no doubt carry a hint of irony among tennis fans, McEnroe said crucial moments in the final against Djokovic showed where Kyrgios was lacking.

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The 27-year-old Australian completed a controversial but convincing run to the Wimbledon final, aided by the withdrawal of semi-final opponent Rafael Nadal due to injury.

Kyrgios went down to Djokovic 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6(3), a display that showcased the best and worst aspects of his game.

His run through the earlier rounds was littered with controversy, including spitting towards the crowd during his first round match against qualifier Paul Jubb, who he needed five sets to overcome.

In the third round, Kyrgios was labelled a 'bully' by Stefanos Tsitsipas after prevailing in a spiteful contest between the pair, while he also faced questions after it was revealed he had been summonsed to court in Canberra over an incident late last year.

McEnroe, himself a poster-child for on-court outbursts in his playing days, said Kyrgios the tennis player was a 'genius' but needed to get his head in the right space to consistently compete at the level he did at Wimbledon.

"The guy is a genius out there, the way he plays," McEnroe told the BBC.

"He needs Sigmund Freud to come out of the grave and somehow figure out a way to keep this guy going for a couple of years because we could use him.

"It's unbelievable, he moves the needle for us in tennis. We need this big time but we don't need him to try half the time."

McEnroe added that he believed a fear of failure was keeping Kyrgios from accessing his best tennis.

"He's a good kid, the players like him, he's well liked in the locker room, he does a lot of charity work," he said.

"But he's got demons you know, in a way — we all have this fear of failure and it's a question of how you best deal with it."

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The mental side of Kyrgios' game has largely overshadowed his talent for much of his career.

McEnroe said the now World No.45 was capable of much greater feats, but needed to harness that mental energy in a positive way.

However Kyrgios realises that would be best left to him, McEnroe said, but he added that like the American champion does now, Kyrgios may regret some of his outbursts and how they ultimately may affect his career.

"I would say I'm proud of most of what I did but there are certainly times where I'm like, 'I didn't need to do that'" McEnroe said.

"It only exacerbated the situation and made more people get mad at me or start booing me so it wasn't like it helped me.

"It may be at times you blow off some steam. Obviously, you see Kyrgios doing that all the time."

The Australian was handed a code violation in Sunday's final during which he also volubly demanded the removal of a spectator who he claimed was drunk and launched a foul-mouthed tirade at his own box.

"How do you think his box feels when he's screaming at them? Those are the people that love him most, right?" said McEnroe.

"Unfortunately, the people that you love most you take it out on, because you feel closest to them. I think we can all relate to that. But if it wasn't so sad it would be funny in a way.

"So that part, hopefully he would look at and go, 'I don't need to do that to my dad or my girlfriend'.

"You know he's sitting there and he's obviously tortured in certain ways. (He's) unbelievably talented, very smart... a hell of a player when he wants to be."

With AFP

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