Kyrgios's problem: skill, not on-court attitude

[calitennis127]

Being lazy is just such a wonderful excuse. Literally every loss becomes excusable. It's a ready made narrative. You're kidding yourself if you don't think Nick is aware of that and in a way, feeds into the narrative. Easier than saying "I worked hard but I just wasn't good enough." I'm not saying the guy is a workhorse but it's hilarious how willing most are to just believe that he doesn't train enough.

I mostly agree with this. I think it's more accurate to say that Kyrgios trains stupidly. It's not enough to just lift weights and hit some massive serves and forehands, which I am sure he does. You have to work on intricacies and particular shots with attention to detail, the way Nadal and Uncle Toni worked on Nadal's serve in his younger years.

I highly doubt Kyrgios even makes an attempt at that kind of improvement, which is why his ground game is trash most of the time.

 

[calitennis127]

I'm very happy for Kyrgios. Great win for him this past weekend. I hope he keeps it going and has a big US Open to wrap up the summer hardcourt season.

He looked a little injured though yesterday so we'll see what he can do in the Masters events. Hopefully it was nothing too serious.

 

[Ricardo]

players have said NK doesn't train anywhere near pro level, so it's not made up to suit anyone's narrative...…...it's the wheelchair fans here who love to over-analyse with what they love to believe, so they can make up something about a player they like/dislike. And how do you know it's easier than saying 'I work hard but am not good enough'? a lot of players say they work hard (and results aint good), so you actually don't know what and how they think.

I am curious, how do couch fans here know what the pros feel? they do talk as if they know.

 

[DarthFed]

Even if he trained like an average pro (as in practices as much and takes it seriously) we all know his diet and lifestyle is far from ideal for someone trying to make the most of his talent. One can only hope he finds some inspiration soon and that he at least becomes semi-consistent. It feels like his only chance for a decent result is to survive until he faces a good opponent that he actually tries against. So in his bizarre world he's usually better off facing 5 top 15 guys than he is facing a couple barely top 100 players to start. This last tournament he did seem to skate by the few lesser ranked players so that is a good sign.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Even if he trained like an average pro (as in practices as much and takes it seriously) we all know his diet and lifestyle is far from ideal for someone trying to make the most of his talent. One can only hope he finds some inspiration soon and that he at least becomes semi-consistent. It feels like his only chance for a decent result is to survive until he faces a good opponent that he actually tries against. So in his bizarre world he's usually better off facing 5 top 15 guys than he is facing a couple barely top 100 players to start. This last tournament he did seem to skate by the few lesser ranked players so that is a good sign.

I am very surprised that he beat about three different no name players in W-DC.

 

[Ricardo]

Even if he trained like an average pro (as in practices as much and takes it seriously) we all know his diet and lifestyle is far from ideal for someone trying to make the most of his talent. One can only hope he finds some inspiration soon and that he at least becomes semi-consistent. It feels like his only chance for a decent result is to survive until he faces a good opponent that he actually tries against. So in his bizarre world he's usually better off facing 5 top 15 guys than he is facing a couple barely top 100 players to start. This last tournament he did seem to skate by the few lesser ranked players so that is a good sign.

yes he did skate by the lower ranked players like someone of his ability should, but that's a rarity as he seems uninspired to play against those players most of the time. And the odd thing with him as you mentioned, is that he is better off playing several top players in one tournament than going through low ranked players as he would be prone to playing some absolute stinkers.....99% of the players would rather face weaker opposition, just not Nick. Its like he is born to play to the level of his opposition, more often than not. Give him a bad player, fat chance he will play worse.

 

[don_fabio]

Whether it's coincidence or not it looked like early loss to Nadal in Wimbledon hurt him and he looked like that in a presser. Seems like he actually trained recently and managed to win a tournament. It's like he realised that he just has to be seeded at least on slams to have a chance there for a good run. Hanging around rank 50 is not good enough for a player of his calibre. He should be in top 20 at least.

I think these next year or two are important for him to take things more seriously and do something good. He can't keep like this forever, even he will get bored by it, so why not put some effort again. I hope he does.

 

[calitennis127]

Whether it's coincidence or not it looked like early loss to Nadal in Wimbledon hurt him and he looked like that in a presser. Seems like he actually trained recently and managed to win a tournament. It's like he realised that he just has to be seeded at least on slams to have a chance there for a good run. Hanging around rank 50 is not good enough for a player of his calibre. He should be in top 20 at least.

I think these next year or two are important for him to take things more seriously and do something good. He can't keep like this forever, even he will get bored by it, so why not put some effort again. I hope he does.

He needs to get to the semis or better of a major to raise his profile.....now is the right time to make that leap.

 

[Jelenafan]

It seems most Champions hate losing almost, if not more, than they love winning. Kyrgios doesn’t seem to have that same drive.

Playing a top opponent in his case relieves the pressure because he has nothing to lose, yet the expectation of winning against regular tour players when he’s suppose seems to overwhelm him.

 

[Nadalfan2013]

Whether it's coincidence or not it looked like early loss to Nadal in Wimbledon hurt him and he looked like that in a presser. Seems like he actually trained recently and managed to win a tournament. It's like he realised that he just has to be seeded at least on slams to have a chance there for a good run. Hanging around rank 50 is not good enough for a player of his calibre. He should be in top 20 at least.

I think these next year or two are important for him to take things more seriously and do something good. He can't keep like this forever, even he will get bored by it, so why not put some effort again. I hope he does.

They should ban him from tennis before he accidently injures someone when he loses his self control and starts being violent. He is disgusting and I wouldn't want my kid to watch his tennis matches.

 

[don_fabio]

They should ban him from tennis before he accidently injures someone when he loses his self control and starts being violent. He is disgusting and I wouldn't want my kid to watch his tennis matches.

He was looking at peace with himself at the time I wrote my post LOL. Who could tell he will act that bad just 2 weeks later.

 

[Front242]

They should ban him from tennis before he accidently injures someone when he loses his self control and starts being violent. He is disgusting and I wouldn't want my kid to watch his tennis matches.

Who the hell is he likely to injure? His racquet? A chair? Mostly all he does is argue with the umpire and often he's right cos they don't enforce the rules at all. So violent. I recommend you never watch Robocop.

 

[tented]

Who the hell is he likely to injure? His racquet? A chair? Mostly all he does is argue with the umpire and often he's right cos they don't enforce the rules at all. So violent. I recommend you never watch Robocop.

I can easily imagine him getting so wound up that he would hit a ball into the crowd or throw his racquet and hit someone. No, there probably wouldn’t be bloodshed (although Nalbandian did manage to do that once), but who wants to be hit in the face while watching tennis?

 

[backhandslapper]

So... Nadal maniac fans always want him banned for good while Roger's sycophants always downplay his misbehavior.

If he keeps not getting banned while maintaining his attitude, I can imagine players themselves pressuring to get him banned because he's even more annoying to play against than Nadal ever was.

 

[brokenshoelace]

I like how Kyrgios complains about gamesmanship and every Fed fan jumps on the same ship (@Front242 I'm looking at you) yet we're supposed to ignore how fucking annoying and distracting for the opponent it must be for Kyrgios to never shut the fuck up, have endless arguments with the umpire, the crowd, his box and himself at every fucking turn. Sorry, but give me someone who takes 30 seconds before serving any day of the week.

Just amazing how our selective bias makes us outraged about things and completely oblivious to others.

 

[Front242]

I can easily imagine him getting so wound up that he would hit a ball into the crowd or throw his racquet and hit someone. No, there probably wouldn’t be bloodshed (although Nalbandian did manage to do that once), but who wants to be hit in the face while watching tennis?

I was going to mention the Nalbandian incident and of course Shapovalov injured an umpire's eye. So far Kyrgios hasn't injured anyone.

 

[Front242]

I like how Kyrgios complains about gamesmanship and every Fed fan jumps on the same ship (@Front242 I'm looking at you) yet we're supposed to ignore how fucking annoying and distracting for the opponent it must be for Kyrgios to never shut the fuck up, have endless arguments with the umpire, the crowd, his box and himself at every fucking turn. Sorry, but give me someone who takes 30 seconds before serving any day of the week.

Just amazing how our selective bias makes us outraged about things and completely oblivious to others.

I think a lot of people here need to Google gamesmanship. Kyrgios is not deliberately arguing with the umpire to distract and beat his opponent. Nadal IS stalling to piss his opponents off, he IS using fake MTOs to piss off his opponents and get back on level terms when losing, he DID leave the court deliberately to take a shit/piss whatever before his opponent served for the match at Indian Wells against Federer and, finally, he knew exactly what he was doing messing with his bandages before Federer served for their Wimbledon semi this year. Sure, they only started bugging him right then. As if. Nadal fans. Christ.

One is a born cheat and the other is just tempermental although I'd argue it's warranted when umpires do a shit job of not enforcing the rules and allowing players to slow play to a crawl. Everyone knows how fast Kyrgios plays and that gobshite Fergus Murphy gave him a time violation a few days ago. Seriously, a time violation for one of the fastest players on tour?! Wtf is that? That was what set him off when he said how the hell does he not penalize Nadal. 99% of the umpires are gutless cowards and should be fired and new ones with balls should be hired.

Was Kyrgios conduct poor? Absolutely 100% Shouldn't have spit and cursed as much but the bottom line is, he was right on principle. Rules are not being enforced properly.

 

[Nadalfan2013]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1162455289418997761

If I was that ball kid I would have walked to the umpire and asked to leave the court because I deserve to be treated like a human being. I dislike Djokovic so much. He's all smiles when he wins but when he loses he is disgusting.

 

[Front242]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1162455289418997761

If I was that ball kid I would have walked to the umpire and asked to leave the court because I deserve to be treated like a human being. I dislike Djokovic so much. He's all smiles when he wins but when he loses he is disgusting.

Wtf is this? Slag all players not named Nadal week? First you're calling Kyrgios disgusting and now Djokovic. Nadal shouts "puta" a lot and you obviously missed the day he shouted banana like an ignorant prick to a ball kid. None of them are perfect. Federer used to break racquets a lot in his earlier years on tour. So basically none of them are saints or role models. Now grow up.

 

[DarthFed]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1162455289418997761

If I was that ball kid I would have walked to the umpire and asked to leave the court because I deserve to be treated like a human being. I dislike Djokovic so much. He's all smiles when he wins but when he loses he is disgusting.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with him owning your boy's soul for most of the past 8+ years.