Kyrgios’ inner turmoil amid win
NICK Kyrgios has stunned world No.1 Daniil Medvedev in one of the greatest triumphs of his career while revealing the personal turmoil he is battling every day with his family confronting personal issues home in Australia.
The Australian tennis star came from behind to claim a 6-7 (2) 6-4 6-2 victory in just under two hours in the second round of the Montreal Masters ATP event to take his winning streak to eight games just two weeks out from the US Open.
It is the biggest scalp of the season for Kyrgios who has now won 14 of his past 15 matches, his only defeat coming against Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final.
But his thoughts are almost always with his family back in Australia, particularly his mother Norlaila who is currently unwell in hospital.
Kyrgios revealed his family pain after his first round victory in Montreal, adding that it was a particularly tough time for everyone back home including his father who flew back to Australia after Wimbledon.
“Be strong Ma,” Kyrgios wrote on the cameras.
“It’s hard because even travelling now, my mum is in hospital at the moment, my dad hasn’t been very well, my brother just had a baby and I don’t get to be there with my family when normal people would like to be with them,” Kyrgios said.
“It’s hard being from Australia because we can’t travel back and forth. There’s a lot of things people don’t see. They only see me winning, losing, throwing a racquet, doing those things. They don’t really understand the challenges that I face or what people on tour face, what’s going on in their personal lives.”
Despite his anguish, Kyrgios displayed maturity and elite tennis in his second round clash with the world No.1.