Tennis Prose




Mar/19

23

Kyrgios Downplays Federer, Nadal, Djokovic in Miami

By Scoop Malinowski

Nick Kyrgios defeated Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic the first time he played each, a near impossible feat, matched only by Lleyton Hewitt. This week, Nick analyzed the “Big Three” for Daily Mail columnist Michael Dickson, revealing interesting reviews of the icons which do not exactly bow in deference to this era’s all time super champions.

“They don’t do anything spectacularly well,โ€ Kyrgios claimed. โ€œObviously Federer is unbelievably talented and the greatest of all time, but he gets tired in tight situations. Djokovic struggles with short balls, he doesn’t like to come forward. Second serve can get a bit shaky. Rafa loves to be defensive so you can really push through his forehand and expose how far back he stands. So they do have weaknesses and if you play the right way and execute it right under pressure then they can be beaten.”

“You just have to play the right way and for the stars to align,” Nick continued. “Of course they are a level above all of us, but they are definitely beatable, I don’t think like they are Gods to the sport.โ€

โ€œI don’t know how much respect the others show them but I’m not going to really respect someone just because they can hit a ball over the net, that’s not enough for me to give them respect. Why would I give them an inch? They’ve already got the advantage with always playing on the best courts in the best conditions, all that sort of stuff, so I don’t know why you would give them inches.โ€

Kyrgios is showing bravery and confidence to verbally slice and dice the three ATP kingpins, now let’s see if he can back up his words with actions.

Kyrgios has shown signs of erupting into the greatest stage of his professional career, by winning Acapulco last month, handing Nadal a devastatingly impressive three set victory. The 24 year old Australian could be on the verge of playing the best tennis of his career this season and the coming years.

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7 comments

  • Leif Wellington Haase · March 25, 2019 at 1:24 am

    Although Kyrgios’ comment that the Big Three don’t “do anything spectacularly well” is risible, his analysis of their relative weaknesses is on the mark. When Nick cares about tennis he is one of the few players in the world who can make competent pros look pedestrian. It is a travesty that he isn’t top 5 in the world on talent alone. He has a good draw here and hope he makes the most of it. While crowds in Miami look sparse on TV (is this true or is it an artifact of the temporary facility and camera angles) Nick seems to have kept quite a few fans in their seats deep into a one-sided late night match against Lajovic.

  • Hartt · March 25, 2019 at 7:38 am

    From what I’ve seen on TV, many of the smaller courts are packed, and someone who was there said there are a lot of people, but they are spread out over the grounds, which are very large. The main stadium is so huge that probably only someone like Federer can attract enough fans to fill it.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 25, 2019 at 8:01 am

    Tennis needs and has been waiting for a unique character phenomenon like Nick. Best thing to happen to tennis in years. We get no cliches from nick. Thank the tennis gods.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 25, 2019 at 8:12 am

    Yes the venue is large and absorbs big crowds well, lots of places to explore and relax. Even have an art gallery here. Only 1 complaint. Outer courts fans can’t watch on side up to the fence. Must stay behind barricade that is parallel to baseline. Like to see fans be allowed closer to side fence like us open outer courts. There is too much empty space on several outer courts which fans should be allowed to stand in to watch matches.

  • catherine · March 25, 2019 at 9:17 am

    Scoop – Re Nick – I saw a comment from him but I don’t know if it’s true (hope it is)re Kerber/Andreescu and K’s twitter post: ‘ She called her (Bianca) a Drama Queen and then she goes and posts THAT !?!’

    You can be quite sure Nick would rather stand by his actions, however reprehensible, than end up looking a fool and a hypocrite.

  • Scoop Malinowski · March 25, 2019 at 9:24 am

    Good point Catherine, Kerber backed down from her insult of Andreescu and is now singing a new tune. Funny tweet by nick, lots of laughter in press row.

  • catherine · March 25, 2019 at 11:46 am

    There might have been a bit of laughter in the dressing room too but of course we’ll never know that ๐Ÿ™‚

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