Olympics? I should Coco
Nasty Nick halts feud with Nadal to praise him as a legend... but how long will it last?
COCO GAUFF is targeting the Olympics but she can play only one more tournament to boost her ranking before she turns 16 in March.
The teenager’s latest Grand Slam fairytale was ended by her fellow American Sofia Kenin, who won their fourth-round clash 6-7 6-3 6-0. She will move up to world No.52 to be the American No.9. But nations are limited to four Olympians in the singles and Serena Williams, Madison Keys, Kenin and Alison Riske are all in the top 20.
Players under 16 are limited to 10 events a year to stop burnout. So Gauff will only play in Indian Wells in the next two months, and must do well there to rise in the rankings and break into the US team.
“That’s the goal,” said Gauff. “I definitely want to play the Olympics – it would be cool.”
THE BAD (AND GOOD) OF KYRGIOS £17,500 and docked NICK KYRGIOS exploded onto for verbal abuse of a spectator court. Fined money and points the world stage when beating and £1,500 for unsportsmanlike all prize the event. Rafa Nadal on his Wimbledon conduct and banned for eight earned during debut back in 2014. And the weeks. Asked about shortchanging Australian has rarely been out fans, he responded: “I of the headlines since... don’t owe them anything. If you WIMBLEDON 2015 don’t like it, I didn’t ask you to Booed by fans and accused of come watch. Just leave.” tanking during fourth-round defeat to Richard Gasquet. ROGERS CUP, 2015 While facing Stan Wawrinka in Montreal, Kyrgios sledged him with personal abuse about the Swiss star’s Croatian girlfriend Donna Vekic. SHANGHAI MASTERS 2016
Fined £25,000 for lack of effort,
Fined £13,400 for making an obscene gesture with his water bottle during a changeover. 2019 ROME MASTERS Defaulted from his second-round match with Casper Ruud after swearing at a line judge, kicking a bottle and hurling a chair onto
Hit with record ATP fine of £86,500 for five separate incidents of unsportsmanlike conduct – including swearing and appearing to spit at Irish umpire Fergus Murphy – and put on six-month probation.
2020 AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRES
Calls for charity match to raise funds for people affected by the fires – and pledges £105 for every ace he serves during the Australian summer.
NICK KYRGIOS 33 ..................................... AGE ..................................... 24 Manacor, Mallorca ..... RESIDENCE ..... Nassau, Bahamas 1 .......................... WORLD RANKING ......................... 26 19 titles ................ BEST GRAND SLAM ....................... QF (Wimbledon 2014, Aus Open 2015) 84 ........................... CAREER TITLES ............................. 6 £91.95m ............... CAREER EARNINGS ............... £6.37m
Nadal leads 4-3
R64 6-3 3-6 7-6 5-7 6-3 (outdoor hard) R16 3-6 7-6 7-6
2017 Beijing (outdoor hard) F 6-2
6-1
2017 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (outdoor hard) QF 6-2 7-5
2017 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (outdoor clay) R16 6-3 6-1
1000 Rome (outdoor clay) R16
6-7 6-2 6-4 2014 Wimbledon R16 7-6 57 7-6 63
MATS WILANDER believes Nick Kyrgios is trying to “intimidate” Rafa Nadal with respect ahead of their showdown in the Australian Open today.
But the Swedish legend has told the modern-day John McEnroe to keep getting angry on court to win a first Grand Slam title.
Nadal and Kyrgios have a feud dating back to last year’s Mexico Open when Kyrgios served underarm – and the world No.1 accused him of being “disrespectful”.
Yet the enfant terrible of tennis, on six-month probation following a meltdown last August, has shown the compassionate side to his complicated character in leading tennis’ charity efforts for the bushfires.
He admitted it “felt good” to have the undivided support of the home crowd during his epic five-set win over Russian Karen Khachanov.
And before their fourth-round clash on Rod Laver, the world No.26 described the 19-time Grand Slam winner as “a champion” and “one of the greatest of all time”.
He is Nasty Nick no more. Or for now. Wilander (above) said: “It helps his game more to be more respectful. The truth is I believe they all like him in the locker room.
“But as long as he’s not always doing his best, the guys in the locker room are saying, ‘There’s no way I’m losing to this guy ever’.
“I think that yes, being more respectful will intimidate Nadal more because now Nadal is only playing this match. What Nick is doing off court is going to help him understand that he can do more if he becomes more of a predictable role model on court.”
Kyrgios still called the umpire “stupid” during his last match when the Aussie had blood “squirting” from his hand, but Wilander likes that inner rage.
“Nick physically is a monster,” said the Eurosport analyst. “He flies on the court.
“He will win a Major and if he wins one, he will win two. And then he wins five because he is that good.
“And the other thing working for him now is that p ***** off is OK. Always. Throwing chairs around in Rome is always OK – no one cares.
“It is not looking good? You are the bad boy? Who cares? It is just not trying. That is where the line is drawn. You can do whatever you want otherwise.
“John McEnroe is a perfect example. He had good intentions, but he couldn’t control it. And Nick is very similar to that.”
Kyrgios likes facing the top stars and left-handers. Nadal only took the lead in their head-to-head record by winning last season’s secondround match at Wimbledon after four tight sets.
“I got beaten by the better player at Wimbledon,” said Kyrgios. “I shook his hand, looked him in the eye and said, ‘Too good’. But every time you put up a battle like that against Rafa, you take confidence from it.”