Tennis Prose




Aug/18

8

Nick Kyrgios: Biggest Waste of Talent in Tennis History?

By Scoop Malinowski

No player has dazzled the world with a combination of power, speed, huge serving and tennis magic as stunningly as Nick Kyrgios. The amazing Aussie is so formidable on the court that he managed to defeat Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic the first times he played each.

But when a talent is so massively developed in certain areas, it’s natural that this talent could be extremely flawed and weak and underdeveloped in certain other areas.

It’s become clear by now that Kyrgios can play with the very best at their peak and he can beat any man, with his nuclear serving and lethal groundstrokes especially the forehand. But it’s also clear by now that Kyrgios doesn’t always feel like playing or summoning the highest level of his tennis skillset. Sometimes he’d just prefer to play around without the extra burden of dealing with pressure and expectations. Not unlike how a stealth hunter cat sometimes likes to just play with his helpless prey for personal pleasure and amusement.

There have been many examples of wasted talents in pro tennis – Marcelo Rios, Alberto Mancini, David Nalbandian, Marat Safin to name a few. What sets the 23 year old Kyrgios apart from these players is that he has not even come close to winning a major title or a Masters 1000 title.

At least Rios, for all his faults as a competitor in the later years of his career, became ATP world no. 1 and reached the Australian Open final at age 22 and he won four Masters Series titles. As talented as Rios was, the elite players of his era felt the Rios game lacked the necessary power and top notch serve to consistently beat the elites. Sampras said he always felt the Rios game lacked “heft.” Sampras was 2-0 vs Rios. Rios also had great difficulty with certain other elite players, particularly Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Jiri Novak, Lleyton Hewitt, which proved that Rios had limitations at the elite echelon. Rios was great but he had a ceiling and was unable to subdue certain elite players.

Kyrgios does not have limitations, he has shown he can beat anyone and everyone – when he is mentally and physically up for the task. The problem is the majority of the time, Kyrgios, for whatever reasons in his mental make up, can’t inspire himself to evoke the extraordinary gifts he has inside. One tennis expert recently said he thinks the reason Kyrgios underachieves is because he’s actually afraid of losing and by tanking, it allows him the security of knowing he lost because he didn’t try, which is more acceptable than losing because he wasn’t good enough.

Maybe deep down Nick doesn’t believe he is good enough. In my new book Facing Marat Safin, one player told me he practiced with Safin shortly after his historic US Open win in 2000 and Safin was struggling with all the expectations of him to take over and dominate the sport like the next young
Pete Sampras. Safin actually admitted, “Everybody tells me I should be no. 1. Maybe I’m not good enough.”

Perhaps Kyrgios feels the same way as young Safin did?

Like Safin, Kyrgios is without a doubt, a tennis genius. And as it’s been said, “All genius is touched by madness.”

We will just have to wait and see if Kyrgios can sort out his inner madness and genius foibles and let the side we all want to see take over and dominate. Because he’s just too fine a player to be tagged with the label “the biggest waste of talent in tennis history.”

We all want to see Nick live up to his potential and expectations and be tagged with a different label: “One of the great champions of tennis history and future Hall of Famer.”

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66 comments

  • Hartt · August 8, 2018 at 2:16 pm

    When Kyrgios first burst onto the scene, I was very excited about him because his special talent was obvious. But I’m not even interested in him any longer. The guy is 23 years old and is ranked something like No. 17, with his highest ranking, No. 13, coming in 2016. So he hasn’t even made the top 10.

    It doesn’t matter how talented a player is if, for whatever reason, he does not make use of that talent. People have been waiting for years now for Nick to get his act together. It’s highly unlikely that he will suddenly see the light and change his behavior.

    There are too many talented youngsters who do love tennis and give their best effort, such as Sascha, Tsitsipas, Shapo and Felix, to waste energy on Nick. It is much more rewarding to follow what they are doing.

  • Dan Markowitz · August 8, 2018 at 2:28 pm

    I’m still excited by Nick and hold out hope he can still be a top player and put together a two-week span of brilliance to capture a slam or two like Safin. I’d still probably like to watch him play more than any other player, but I agree with Paul Annacone that I don’t watching (in fact it’s pretty cool to see him pull off the in between the legs shots and SabrK), but I want to see him not throw in the towel on so many matches that seem winnable for him if he just got in better shape and didn’t capitulate so easily.

  • Duke Carnoustie · August 8, 2018 at 2:39 pm

    Nick did come close to a Masters title, losing to Dimitrov last year.

    Hartt is correct. We have all moved on. There are other players to watch. Look at the match between deminaur and rublev last weekend. Riveting stuff. Nick can’t compete in a match at that level. He also knows he is uncoachable.

    The problem is that he has a following so he will draw for Laver Cup. Fed should say he doesn’t want him in the event, really.

    The losses have to hurt you. Look at Djoker after RG against Cecc. Zverev wants to pinch someone after every Slam loss. Nick just accepts defeat.

    Players like Sock and Pouile have reached top 10. Nick hasn’t. Nuff said.

  • Duke Carnoustie · August 8, 2018 at 2:47 pm

    Here’s another problem. The ATP and everyone is going nuts for that 185 km forehand Nick hit. It’s the rage on social media.

    He tried it 2 other times and missed badly if you watched the match. Plus he chunked volleys twice on set point against. Yet he acts like he accomplished some th ing with that one lucky shot, tweeting it on social media.

    Everything on the outside is enabling this behavior. He may simply be a loser.

  • Dan Markowitz · August 8, 2018 at 8:11 pm

    Stick a fork in Raonic, if he can’t move any better than he did against Tiafoe today, he’s done going deep in big tournaments. Tiafoe almost bageled the big Canuck/Croat in the final set, 6-1. Tiafoe is definitely talented. His serving accuracy is very impressive, better than Jack Sock. Raonic’s strategy was to go big to Tiafoe’s loopy forehand, but Tiafoe hit plenty of winners off his forehand side.

    He’s so fast and he volleys well. He’s really tough, especially when he faces a guy who was missing as much as Raonic was today and not moving very well.

    Nice win for Tsitsipas who won in SS against Thiem. Those one-handed backhands were zinging. Shapovalov of of course is another young player with a beauty of a one-hander. Amazing, after Federer and Wawa it seemed like the one hander would go the way of the players born in the 90’s. Not one young American hits with a one hander, but now you’ve got these three rising stars (maybe Thiem;s not rising anymore so much) all hitting with one.

    Fognini was up 4-1 and two breaks in second set versus Denis, but the young Canuck/Russian took him out with Foggy mouthing off to him when he broke him for the third time in the set. Foggy seemed to be up 15-30 in the last game on Denis’ serve, but the linesman called a ball out and then changed it to good. On the very next point, Foggy hit a return about a half foot long, he challenged that ball and not the one on15-all that the linesman changed. Very good win for Shapo.

  • Scoop Malinowski · August 8, 2018 at 10:03 pm

    Very bad loss for Milos, he has to beat the whippersnapper. Tsitsipas continues to rise and score big wins. Thiem is stagnated.

  • Dan Markowitz · August 8, 2018 at 11:53 pm

    Hard to believe Madveded is even top 65 with his flat forehand. QBall got beat 6-1 in third set by Scwartzmann. 6-6 to 5-7, the Argentinian won 3rd set 6-1. I think QBall’s narrow window of going deep in a slam is over.

    Felix is quite a player, great mover, uncanny how much he looks like the young Arthur Ashe. This new AA, the third one, is a very advanced player. It’s crazy that Canada in the next 15 year’s can have not one but two players who might win multiple slams. AA and Shapo can be the next Sampras and AA. This AA can definitely surpass the first AA as being the greatest black male player of all time. Of course that list is only four players: Ashe, Noah, Blake and Tsonga.

  • Dan Markowitz · August 9, 2018 at 12:09 am

    The bigger the point, the bigger AA hits. Don’t love his backhand though. He doesn’t generate great power with it. Maybe that’s why he’s always running around it. If I’m buying stock, I’m taking Shapo over AA, but he’s got a good player to compare himself against.

  • Duke Carnoustie · August 9, 2018 at 2:30 am

    Nice effort in this event by Peter Polansky, who took out Ebden and was competitive against Djoker.

    Polansky, you may know, is on the verge of tennis history. He was in the main draw this year for the Aussie Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon as a lucky loser each time.

    Can he complete the Lucky Loser Slam at the Open? May be worth showing up to qualifying to find out. Polansky has a chance to become the greatest or luckiest loser in tennis history.

  • catherine · August 9, 2018 at 5:07 am

    Something (not about Kyrgios) I hadn’t noticed before – in one of her German interviews a reporter asked Julia Georges what she spits out of her mouth at the end of the match. It’s a dental brace which she wears because she clenches her teeth so hard when she hits the ball.

    Has any other player, male/female, ever worn anything similar ? I’ve never heard of it. Although I imagine a lot of teeth grinding goes on 🙂

    (many players say more in their native language than they do in English which is usually just blah blah)

  • Scoop Malinowski · August 9, 2018 at 8:29 am

    Felix really does look a lot like Arthur Ashe and I think a blood test should be taken to see if he could possibly be an illegitimate son of Ashe. Sorry to say that but the resemblance is striking. Maybe Duke has some inside information about this.

  • catherine · August 9, 2018 at 9:11 am

    Scoop – are you serious ? The dates don’t add up to start with. Ashe was dead by the time Felix was born.

    Grinds teeth 🙂

  • Hartt · August 9, 2018 at 9:24 am

    Catherine, Milos wore a mouth guard for awhile. I don’t know if he still does.

    As far as Felix’s parentage goes, Scoop had to be joking!

  • catherine · August 9, 2018 at 9:40 am

    Hartt – it’s possible Milos’ mouth guard was for some similar reason – or maybe fear of being hit in the mouth by a tennis ball !

    Julia thought it was quite funny about her teeth brace – she said she’d given the German media a good headline for the next day.

    I’ve seen her spit something out but I’d no idea what it was. She doesn’t seem the type to go around spitting – unlike certain male players 🙂

  • jg · August 9, 2018 at 9:41 am

    During Wimbledon and this tournament (Canadian Open) they have been showing Tiafoe’s mother on screen, it is a breath of fresh air to watch, she is thoroughly enjoying herself watching, she doesn’t appear to be watching with the critical eye of most of the other professional tennis parents-she appears to be just enjoying herself watching–compare some of the others who seem like they are in the dentist chair.

  • Scoop Malinowski · August 9, 2018 at 9:43 am

    Catherine, let’s wait till Scoop Canoustie either confirms or denies this remote possibility 🙂

  • Scoop Malinowski · August 9, 2018 at 9:46 am

    jg, Norlaila Kyrgios seems to watch her son play with no anxiety or pressure, similar to momma Tiafoe. This is nice to see. I have heard some parents of top players just could not handle the tension and pressure and rarely watched live, some tried and had to leave early.

  • catherine · August 9, 2018 at 9:48 am

    Scoop – it’s not a remote possibility, it’s a physical impossibility.

  • Scoop Malinowski · August 9, 2018 at 11:01 am

    Brilliant win for Shap to subdue the red hot Fognini. Shap is rising to the occasion once again, I think we are learning he is a big stage, high stakes player. When the lights are brightest, and the electricity is hottest Shap summons his very best tennis. Like the Frankenstein monster being wired up to those electric machines, Shap gets a charge of extra inspiration and incentive and shows his very best.

  • Hartt · August 9, 2018 at 11:11 am

    Catherine, yes the mouth guard was to keep Milos from grinding his teeth. And also something to do with body alignment, which I never did really understand.

  • catherine · August 9, 2018 at 11:43 am

    Hartt – it’s possible that Milos’ body was out of alignment which affected his jaw and teeth when he was hitting the ball hard, as the whole head moves – something like that, although I’m not exactly an expert on these things !

    I don’t know if Julia has always worn her brace or if she discovered what was happening as time went on.

    Denis is doing very well. Must be the Canadian air.

  • Jg · August 9, 2018 at 11:46 am

    Yes I noticed that with Kyrigos’ Mom as well, I remember Sampras said his parents rarely watched him play

  • catherine · August 9, 2018 at 11:57 am

    Gloria Connors always watched Jimmy play and often made her presence felt.

  • Duke Carnoustie · August 9, 2018 at 1:53 pm

    Tough loss for Foe. We know on this site that grigor is an overrated fraud. Shows that Foe will easily surpass Grigors career.

    Can’t wait for the next-gen like foe, shapo and the rest to kick out the underachievers like grigor, Kyrgios, sock, etc.

  • jg · August 9, 2018 at 2:14 pm

    yea, very tough loss – he was up a break in the third and was up 4-2 in the tie break, double faulted and missed a sitter. Grigor hung in there when he looked out of it, he probably wanted it more, he may sense others are catching up to him.

  • Joe Blow · August 9, 2018 at 3:02 pm

    Tsitsipas moves around the court like Kuerten..imo..same walk too

  • Dan Markowitz · August 9, 2018 at 3:14 pm

    I think Kyrgios’ mom is a lot more anxious than Tiafoe’s who does look very calm. Federer’s mom seems pretty relaxed as does his dad. Nadal’s mom’s pretty chill. Kyrgios’ mom might be an enabler to her son’s antics as I read a NYTimes article about how she does everything for Nick when they’re on the road together.

  • Hartt · August 9, 2018 at 4:27 pm

    Scoop, you alerted us to Tsisipas some time ago. Were you ever right! The youngster just won against Novak with a display of some terrific tennis.

  • Dan Markowitz · August 9, 2018 at 4:53 pm

    Love Tsitsipas. The guy is just such a complete player at 19. I like his game better than Zverev’s and he’s more of a complete player with more variety I think than Shapovalov, but I could be just geeking over his win today over Djoker. We’re starting to see the changing of the guard with Tsitsipas, Shapo, Zverev and possibly Tiafoe and Felix all in the mix.

  • Scoop Malinowski · August 9, 2018 at 5:11 pm

    Hartt, this win by Tsitsipas over Djokovic could be one of those major balance of power shift matches, like Hewitt vs Sampras, Safin vs Sampras and Federer vs Sampras. Tsitsipas is getting better every night, every week. If ever a teenager looked like a future world no. 1 it’s Tsitsipas. He will win a major within the next 13 months.

  • Scoop Malinowski · August 9, 2018 at 5:11 pm

    Dan, in some ways Tsitipas looks even better and more mature and efficient than Federer did at 19.

  • Hartt · August 9, 2018 at 5:58 pm

    Sascha just had an easy win over Medvedev, in SS in something like 52 minutes. He could do no wrong. He served well and his groundies were powerful, accurate and deep. He came to the net much more often than he usually does, and made some good volleys, including a beautiful BH volley. Especially with Novak out, Sascha stands an excellent chance of defending his title.

  • Duke Carnoustie · August 9, 2018 at 6:13 pm

    This new era is so exciting! Tsitsipas and Shapo and FAA bring new fans for countries that have not been in the tennis spotlight.

    Zverev and Thiem have already achieved plenty. Don’t forget about Coric. Rublev and Deminaur are rising too.

    Its up to Foe, Fritz and JD to hang with the above players.

    Could this be the final year in which the big 4 win Slams? It very well could be.

  • Chazz · August 9, 2018 at 8:39 pm

    Yes, Coric and Chung, don’t forget about them. Khachanov too. Chung’s health is a concern though. I felt like Coric’s win over Federer in the Halle Open final in June was kind of symbolic in the same way Tsitsipas’ win over Djoker was today.

    Tiafoe is so close to putting it all together on a consistent basis. He already did it by winning Delray. And getting to the Estoril final. His next step is getting to the semis and finals in masters tournaments. He looks to me like he can have an Andy Roddick type of career.

  • Duke Carnoustie · August 9, 2018 at 10:33 pm

    Right I mentioned Coric but forget to say Chung, who I have predicted will win a Slam. And Khachanov seems so much older than his years.

    Meanwhile no young up and comers on the WTA circuit outside of Ostapenko, who has such a go for broke style. Kasatkina didn’t impress anyone with that match against Shazza. Osaka and Ash Barty are unproven in my mind.

    Dan may be right about women’s tennis, I hate to say it.

  • Duke Carnoustie · August 9, 2018 at 11:14 pm

    Maybe Sabalenka is the rising WTA star, though playing 6 sets today proved to be too much. Didn’t realize she was ranked so high.

    That Venus score wasn’t surprising since her career is truly over but impressive for Simona to play like that after the tough match during the day.

    Nadal takes out Stan and looks to avenge his Aussie Open loss to Cilic tomorrow night.

  • Duke Carnoustie · August 9, 2018 at 11:20 pm

    Fognini called Shapo arrogant during that loss and cursed at him in Italian from what the chatter is saying. Here is more…

    Fognini: “This story of NextGen for me is a bullshit (cazzata), because young players like Shapovalov are very good but they have to be seen not on Centre Court or Lenglen… Nadal at their age won Roland Garros…”

  • Scoop Malinowski · August 9, 2018 at 11:25 pm

    I responded defending Fognini’s quotes about NEXTGEN then somebody took a shot at Fog saying he hasn’t accomplished anything at 31 and the father replied with a funny tweet: Ma vai a cagare!!!!!!

    Translated from Italian by Microsoft
    You’re going to take a dump!!!!!!

  • Matty · August 9, 2018 at 11:44 pm

    Just to weigh in on Kyrgios, he did withdraw in Washington with enough notice to the tournament director to slot in a lucky loser. Nick stayed around the area and practiced with players at my home club, TCCP ( College Park training center) all day Wednesday. He hung around all day, playing with the young campers and signing swag. He was hosted by Franklin Tiafoe, Francis’s brother, and Nick could not have beenany more gracious. Name me one player in the top 25 that would have even stuck around??

  • Duke Carnoustie · August 10, 2018 at 12:24 am

    Scoop, that’s funny.

    Also great find on LeBron James being a pedo. I didn’t know that!

  • Dan Markowitz · August 10, 2018 at 1:45 am

    Duke, what the hell are you talking about?Lets leave LBJ out of this. And you don’t think Nadal’s going to win s slam next year? I’ll tKe that bet.

  • catherine · August 10, 2018 at 3:03 am

    Duke –
    You may not read what I write but I probably follow more women’s tennis than anyone on this site, which is ATP dominated, and I’ve been saying the same things regularly. So nothing new. (I’ve got a long memory and I certainly don’t hate the game, unlike some).

    I’ve also posted lower down about the lack of lustre in Montreal. But presumably I need not have bothered.

    There a few up and coming players but they are young and are not playing the full circuit. May be at USO qualifying.

    If Ostapenko doesn’t sort herself out soon re her UEs she’ll be gone. And Kasatkina is wasting her time and ours. And the Wimbledon winner of 2017 is apparently so frail mentally and physically that she isn’t currently playing at all. Not a cheerful scenario.

    No one is ‘right’ or wrong about the women’s game. This is just the way it is now, post Serena.

  • Scoop Malinowski · August 10, 2018 at 8:04 am

    So Robin Haase turns into superman in Canada, how does he do it two years in a row? Jg no doubt Kyrgios is fantastic with kids, I’ve witnessed it many times at US Open and Miami and your latest story takes the cake. I saw Nick hold court with a group of kids on Armstrong after a practice two years ago and said “the first kid who pronounces my name wrong gets an autograph.” Wacky character. The kids love Nick, he has a lot of influence to attract kids to play and get into tennis. Nick has the cool factor, the sad part is he’s wasting his talent but playing it cool is what floats his boat. He’s just too cool to dedicate and slave all the work to win a major. He’d rather surf the waves of the tour and enjoy it on his terms. Chris Evert tweeted something recently about it’s not the wins and titles that matter, it’s the journey that matters. Nick is doing his journey his way.

  • Dan Markowitz · August 10, 2018 at 8:17 am

    I like Tstisipas a lot, but I don’t pick him to win a major in the next 13 months and I don’t pick Zverev or Shapo to win one either. Nadal, Djoko, Fed, Delpo, even KevAnd are too strong for these young guys still in a best of five format. These guys are all unproven. What has Zverev won one Masters and the best is a slam quarters. If he or Tsitsipas make the second week of the Open it’ll be a big step.

  • Scoop Malinowski · August 10, 2018 at 8:26 am

    Tsitsipas is rising so fast it’s hard to believe, I see no reason why he will suddenly hit a wall. He’s devastating the ATP Tour like a tornado. Absolutely massive win vs Djokovic and now more wins like it will come soon. No stopping this kid, just like the McFadden & Whitehead 70s hit song “Aint No Stoppin Us Now” which was the ring entrance music of Larry Holmes.

  • Hartt · August 10, 2018 at 10:04 am

    Dan, Sascha has won 3 Masters, not 1. He is the defending Rogers Cup champion, so he could make that 4 Masters titles. Yes, he has only made the QF in one Slam, but if he continues playing the way he has this week, he should make it to the 2nd week of the USO. He is playing consistently at a high level now, and is starting to shorten points by coming to the net more. I think he will be a serious contender for Slam titles next season, if not before.

  • Hartt · August 10, 2018 at 10:08 am

    There has been considerable discussion here about players’ girlfriends, so I thought it was interesting to see Tiafoe’s GF, Ayan Broomfield, watching his matches this week. She is from Toronto and is a tennis player herself. In fact, when she was a junior her coach was Casey Curtis, who coached Raonic for many years, from about age 8 to 17. Broomfield plays for UCLA.

  • Duke Carnoustie · August 10, 2018 at 10:22 am

    Dan, I won’t get into it but I was referring to some news regarding LeBron that Scoop posted on his Twitter account. It’s the kind of news the left won’t report but you can check out Scoop’s Twitter and see for yourself.

    Yes a bit of hyperbole for me on the Big 4. Rafa will surpass Fed’s Slam total by winning the next four RGs. Djoker has some more up his sleeve.

    Interestingly, Djoker has no aura of invincibility to the NextGen and even with his losses to Kyrgios. Zverev, Thiem and Tsitsipas all have beaten him.

    The Greek was so confident he all but told the media his strategy for beating the Djoker. If you watched the match, it was hit approach shots to his BH – he rarely approached to the FH. Also in forehand to forehand patterns to pull the Djoker wide into the corner since Djoker can’t dictate there.

    Djoker was 0 for 2 on break chances and looked like he had no game plan. I think he’ll be better prepared next time they meet.

    Halep is on the verge of greatness with one or two more Slam wins.

  • Dan Markowitz · August 10, 2018 at 12:17 pm

    Duke,

    I’m sure Scoop writes a lot of things on his Twitter account. I won’t get into it because we’ve both pledged we’re not going to talk about that kind of stuff on this tennis web-site. All I can say about James is he’s made me into a believer. I never thought in my lifetime I’d see a player who can rival Michael Jordan in skill, competitive brilliance and fire, but James up with MJ.

    The US Open and the USTA has unfortunately turned Scoop and me and Tennis-Prose.com down for a media pass at the Open this year. We’re both trying to get credentialed at the Laver Cup in Chicago in September. These media people when making these decisions check out the articles and posts written, I want to keep Tennis-Prose.com on the up and up so I can watch Kyrgios and Sock help the World Team beat the Europeans, who thus far only have Borg coaching and Fed and Djoker playing.

    One note on Sock, he played brilliantly with Mike Bryan yesterday in beating the Lopez’s in doubles in Toronto. Sock has great touch and angles at the net and he actually is playing the stronger backhand side that Mike Bryan plays when he plays with his brother.

    I have to say, Sock’s game is built for doubles much more than it is for singles. He can hide his backhand more; he doesn’t have to hit many passing shots like one does in singles, and his touch and drop shots and serve are all more suited for doubles. I like watching Sock and Bryan play more than I do now watching the Bryan brothers.

  • Scoop Malinowski · August 10, 2018 at 12:34 pm

    Hartt, and I think the Lendl influence has helped and will further help Zverev down the road. I don’t understand the unloading on Zverev because of his major struggles. This happens to a lot of young future legends, future Hall of Famers. Agassi, Murray, Lendl were all major choke artists in their early ATP careers. But then one day it all clicked and they all became all time tennis legends and great champions. Zverev’s past does not represent his future. He has made serious strides up the ladder this year and he will continue all the way to the top of the ATP food chain. Of this there is no doubt. Notice how not one single pundit or expert has boldly said Zverev doesn’t have the goods, “he will never win a major”? This is because some people generally just like to slag on young talents, young whippersnappers. I guess it’s human nature. Zverev will wear the golden crown of tennis, I guarantee you that.

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