Nick Kyrgios: Unlike No Other

Nick Kyrgios is arguably the most talented player to come along in the last decade.

He has all the physical attributes a coach would hope to have in a player, he crushes the ball with ease, and has one of the biggest serves in the game. However, he has rapidly become known for his on court antics, and last night’s 3rd round loss to Tomas Berdych didn’t help his reputation.

“This is a circus mate!” – Nick Kyrgios

Kyrgios went off about apparent music coming out of the stands during points, and how the umpire did nothing about it. He was quoted as saying “This is a circus mate!” and told the umpire something to the tune of “you suck” during the handshake after the match. This comes just days after he was yelling at his box to bring him a more comfortable pair shorts during his second round match against Pablo Cuevas, and a very tumultuous 2015 season that saw him being punished frequently for unacceptable behavior.

This constant behavior has led to many comparing the young Aussie to Gael Monfils, and wondering if there is anyone out there that can fix this kid’s attitude before he becomes nothing more than wasted talent.

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Nobody is questioning whether the talent is there, but if he can develop the mentality of a champion. Many have compared his mentality to Gael Monfils, but I feel like that is unfair to both guys. Sure it is true in the sense that both enjoy being showmen while on the court, but the way they go about their business is polar opposite. Monfils is the type of player that when faced with a difficult situation, will try generate a comeback by using some flare to get the crowd back into a match, and proceed to ride the crowds energy to the finish line. Kyrgios is the type of player that thrives when the crowd is alive, but is much more hostile when things start to go astray.

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The main thing people seem to forget about Kyrgios is that he is still just a kid. If he lived in America he would not be legal to buy alcohol yet. Yeah sure he says/does some dumb things on and off the court, but not everybody is as graceful as Federer was. Obviously some of his antics have crossed a line, but he is not your average 20 year old. He was spoiled growing up in a spotlight that labelled him part of the future of Australian tennis. Then he experienced a lot of success early in his career leaving him very little time to mature. We need to realize that this is a very special player that needs time more than anything.

A good amount of people have already started to give up on Nicky, but I’m not one of them. As I stated, this kid is one of the most talented players the game has ever seen. He has attributes that you just can’t teach. He has the build of a tennis player, easy and consistent power off both wings, the height to get better angles on the serve, and the ability to consistently hit serves harder than 130 MPH.

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No question Kyrgios needs to clean things up a bit, but everyone needs to stop bashing the kid and allow him to mature at his own pace. We need to stop with the comparisons to current and former players, and realize that Nick Kyrgios is truly like no other.

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