KYRGIOS HAS JUST ONE YEAR TO TURN HIMSELF ROUND
I AM in the camp that wants to see Nick Kyrgios do well and fulfil his enormous potential — I love so much of what he brings to tennis. But to me he is at a crossroads, and the situation is getting urgent. I would go so far as to say that if he does not turn himself around in the next 12 months then it is never going to happen for him. It worries me that he does not seem in a great hurry to change some of his bad habits. It is an individual sport and his lifestyle is down to him. I actually like him, and I am really not that bothered if, within reason, he has an evening at the Dog and Fox before his match. He is not the first Aussie to adopt this approach. But really, does he want to be a top player with ideal preparation, or does he want to cruise along on his talent? Only he can answer this, and I hope it is the former. There has, incidentally, been much discussion about him drilling the ball at Rafa Nadal at the net on Thursday evening. ‘Drilling’ your opponent is part of the game, Ivan Lendl and I used to do it to each other, for example. I have no problem with that. But I looked upon it as a ruthless strategy, and Nick was too far back in the court on this occasion to fit that description. It was pointless from there and could have gone anywhere, maybe injured someone. So while I am not against going straight for your opponent when they are covering the net and you don’t have much option, I don’t think this was cool, and I would like to have seen him make a token apology. Even if you don’t mean it, employing a certain etiquette is important.