Why Nick Kyrgios is Wasting our Time
You know you’re in trouble when John McEnroe calls you out at the U.S. Open
Say what you will about John McEnroe — and I have always loved him, his tantrums were all about frustration with himself, and he never was a crotch-grabber like Jimmy Connors — but he does not sugarcoat his commentary about the state of the game.
And the state of one Nick Kyrgios, an Australian 21-year-old ranked 16th in the world, whom many say could be the next superstar in tennis, is not sweet.
At one point saying “I’m sick to my stomach watching this,” and at another saying he had “knots,” McEnroe verbalized what anyone who loves tennis was feeling watching Kyrgios toss away victory in the third round Saturday of the U.S. Open.
After winning the first set against 63rd-ranked Illya Marchenko of Ukraine, Kyrgios began acting the scenario that has now become routine — showing complete indifference to the match at hand. He has done this before; after losing to Andy Murray at Wimbledon, he said, “I don’t love this sport.”
There was some hope that he finally was getting serious when he said before the Open that he was fit and ready to go, mentally and physically.
But as he began losing in the second set to Marchenko, Kyrgios began playing up a hip injury that forced him to withdraw from the Citi Open in July. “I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus,” Kyrgios could be heard saying.
To which McEnroe scoffed, saying he’d really know if he were hit by a bus.
So yes, Kyrgios seemed to be bothered all the sudden by the hip. But given his past nonchalance behavior on the court and lack of preparation in general compared to the top players in the game, McEnroe took the opportunity to challenge him to step it up — or quit.
“Nick Kyrgios, if you don’t want to be a professional tennis player, do something else,” McEnroe said. “He’s hurt because he’s not training enough.”
Kyrgios has worked out at Chris Evert’s tennis academy in Florida, and Evert has been one of those waiting for Kyrgios to get his act together and show the world the athleticism and dynamic play on a consistent basis. Because in the moments when his head was on straight against Marchenko, Kyrgios was so spectacular in his shot-making and court coverage that McEnroe and fellow announcer, brother Patrick, gushed about the excitement the young man could bring to the game.
Right now it’s all a big tease — and pretty soon, that won’t be enough to keep anyone in his court.
*Sunday, unseeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark made it to the quarterfinals with a stunning 6–3, 6–4 upset of eighth-seeded Madison Keys of the USA. And №4 seed Rafa Nadal lost a tremendous four-hour-plus match in a fifth set tie-breaker to №24 seed Lucas Pouille, the third Frenchman to reach the quarterfinals. Nadal, who has battled a wrist injury, did not reach the quarterfinals of any major in a year for the first time since 2004.
Back to Kyrgios. His parting comment?
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