Eternal wild child Nick Kyrgios stays in the moment | Tennis News – Times of India

LONDON: Comments like, ‘I want to continue doing the right things’, ‘My team does such a good job’, ‘I do so much physio work’ are commonplace in elite sport. Unless the name is Nick Kyrgios – the evergreen wild child.
The 27-year-old, who made his third major quarterfinal, and his first since he beat Rafael Nadal to make the last-eight at Wimbledon as a 19-year-old, is speaking a language littered with aberrant professionalism. It left seasoned press corps wondering if they were indeed in the right room.
The Aussie, ranked 40, will play Chile’s Cristian Garin on Wednesday in the only seedless last-eight clash of the men’s singles draw.
The shock and awe, however, began well before the 6 ft 4’ Kyrgios’s arched frame ambled across the corridors of the All England Lawn Tennis Club. On Centre Court, struggling as much with an injury as with the after-effects of that emotionally bruising clash against Stefanos Tsitsipas, following which he was called ‘a bully’, Kyrgios was pushed to the fence by Brandon Nakashima.
A year, maybe even months ago, the Aussie may have let the wind blow away the match, but on Monday he pursued it like a partially blinkered lover. Wavering, but always returning to the task.
A win on Wednesday would get Kyrgios a place in a major semifinal for the first time in almost a decade of professional sport.
“Semifinal is not my goal. I was telling people back home that I wanted to go for the title this year-round,” he said. “I’m not thinking about lifting a trophy, making semifinals or the final. I’m just thinking about my habits every day, just trying to put in a good performance on the court, then put in a good practice session, try to stay positive. Once I’m off the court, enjoy time with my team, my girlfriend, and then get into game mode.”
“I’m not thinking ahead. I’m really trying to stay in the moment,” said Kyrgios. Who thought Kyrgios was capable of that? “I’m able to stay composed,” said Kyrgios of his new mentality and then leaned on his fourth-round match to draw an example. “That’s probably the first time in my career where I wasn’t playing well, regardless of playing Centre Court Wimbledon, fully packed crowd, I was able to just say, ‘Wow! Look how far I’ve come. I was bouncing the ball before I served and I smiled to myself. I was like, ‘we’re here, we’re competing at Wimbledon, putting in a good performance mentally’.”
Three summers ago, Kyrgios was forced out of a Wimbledon pub at 4 am before playing Rafael Nadal in the second-round.