Nick Kyrgios’s reflective post-Wimbledon-final phase continues. The immensely inflammable Aussie- usually a hot mix of the sublime and the scornful– is a picture of relative calm these days. The loss to Djokovic, it seems, has brought a fresh perspective to his thinking while also vindicating his weird, often wild ways. On the receiving end of a Djoker masterclass, that Centre Court afternoon has left him with a newfound respect for the troika of tennis greats (Nadal, Djokovic and Federer). 

“You just have to be a mental animal to win a Grand Slam,” he continued. “Novak, Federer, and Nadal, I think I give them a bit more respect now. Playing one of them in the final, I felt like [Djokovic] was fresh, felt like he [hadn’t been] playing tennis for the last two weeks, never seen him rattled,” quotes Tennishead.

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Strange as ever though, he admits that winning Wimbledon would’ve drained him off all motivation. “I think Wimbledon is the biggest title ever. I even had a chat with my team, that I thought if I won Wimbledon, I’d really struggle after that for motivation. I really don’t know what more I would have to prove as a tennis player [if I won Wimbledon]. It’s exciting, I still look back and I still take so much confidence from it. I was one hurdle away from the trophy,” added Kyrgios.

The Aussie seemed in fine fettle early doors in the final. Rattling Djokovic with his sledgehammer service and off-the-cuff hitting, Kyrgios won the first set. But the Serb turned the screws soon after, displaying the kind of champion quality many, including Kyrgios, lack. The 27-year-old lost his composure and soon the final, wilting under Nole’s sustained pressure. On vacation in the Bahamas, the entire Wimbledon journey seems to have finally sunk in.

He seemed content upon reaching the final, even quipping that he’d perhaps not make it this far into a Grand Slam ever again. While it does come across as a tad unambitious, his candour offers a glimpse into the person. The levels of hunger, consistency, etc. the Big Three have made household over the last two decades is uncanny, even for the ultra-competitive world of professional sport. Not for everybody is the sustained excellence of the troika. They have spoiled us, made us fundamentally unappreciative of the little less, the not-so-great. I admit, it was most infuriating to watch a talent of Kyrgios’ calibre throw it all away- the rebukes more rebuking, the anger almost personal- but it’s more common than we think. As John McEnroe remarked- and would he not know- Nick needs Freud, not a coach. For the record, all of us perhaps need some psychoanalysis. Just ask Daniil Medvedev!

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Kyrgios is perhaps tired of it all. All the back-and-forth, his mutter-a-minute ways, the tedious exchanges with the world, it’s not for him, just a trigger-box too many. He’s complex, a bit untamed to the untrained eye, but all he wants, I presume, is a quiet life and a fistful of Wimby grass. In any case, he returns to action at the Atlanta Open against German Peter Gojowczyk. With the hard court season upon us, one hopes Kyrgios will be hungrier than ever come the US Open.