Nick Kyrgios feeling the pressure of being a hometown hero Down Under
- Planet Sport writer
- 9 December 2022
Nick Kyrgios admitted that his superlative season has put pressure on him to perform when the hard court season gets underway in earnest at the Australian Open next month.
After the 2022 campaign he has had, he feels that Australia expects something special from him in January.
Kyrgios has become a huge draw over the season that has just wrapped with his trademark outbursts still present but featuring alongside some bewilderingly good tennis.
As for how he is dealing with the pressure, he says he wants to use it as a kind of fuel.
"I feel like I've embraced that and I've taken that challenge on. It's not easy, I've really worked hard to try and channel it, internalise it and use it as fuel," Kyrgios said from Saudi Arabia according to Eurosport.
Kyrgios would bemoan the insatiable nature of the tennis world, that always demands more from him.
"It's always hard being me," he said.
"When I win a tournament or win something of value, they always want more. It's never like, 'OK, it's time to rest', it's like, 'right, do it again' or 'do it now'".
Kyrgios says that he isn't out to please anyone but himself, although he does feel an obligation to those who have closely supported him.
"I've learnt that the people will never have enough. For me, I've achieved some great things in this sport and where I came from. I know I'm content with myself. I want to achieve more for myself, but for all of my team, not for anyone else," Kyrgios said.
Kyrgios would have finished the year inside the top 20 if he was awarded any rankings points for his run to the Wimbledon final.
Instead, he starts 2023 as the World No 22 but alongside Novak Djokovic he is one of the players whose ranking is way off their actual status in the game.
If he is at his physical peak for the Australian Open, Kyrgios will take some stopping.
His relatively low ranking means that he could be a major obstacle for a top ten player in the first week of the tournament, and you'd suspect that not even the likes of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Carlos Alcaraz would relish that meeting.
Kyrgios was carrying an injury into the US Open and still looked to be a match for almost anyone until a disappointing quarter-final loss to Karen Khachanov.
In that run he downed former World No 1 and defending US Open champion Daniil Medvedev and time and again this season showed he can beat anyone on his day.