Nick Kyrgios Attracting Attention for All the Wrong Reasons

Nick Kyrgios had another attention-raising performance in the early half of 2015 Rogers Cup competition. Unfortunately, it’s another tempestuous pattern that he has shown as he strives to be a tennis champion.

In the span of roughly 24 hours, Kyrgios picked up another monster win by defeating No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka. During the match, however, he made a classless comment to his opponent that ultimately drew a fine from the ATP. After the fine, Kyrgios apologized. The next day, he went out and lost in straight sets to John Isner.

Whatever judgments are made about his character, ranging from immature to overly brash, once again the discussion about this young, talented Aussie is not so much on what he needs to do to control his forehand or hone his baseline strategies.

That’s the real tragedy thus far, because many tennis fans are excited about his potential as a champion.

Madrid, Wimbledon and Tennis Australia

Teenage Kyrgios jumped onto tennis’ radar during Wimbledon 2014 with a remarkable five-set victory over Richard Gasquet and a stunning victory over world No. 1 Rafael Nadal. Since, he’s been scrutinized for what he does off the court, but more importantly for his career, he’s been inconsistent on the court.

The Kyrgios pattern was also apparent at Madrid a few months ago. Then, he scored a huge win over world No. 2 Roger Federer, only to lose his next match to John Isner.

At Wimbledon, Kyrgios upset No. 7 seed Milos Raonic, but the veteran Gasquet completely outplayed him in the next match. The big takeaway for many was his boorish behavior toward the chair umpire.

After Wimbledon, he made comments about Tennis Australia’s director of performance, Patrick Rafter, that could have undermined their team’s Davis Cup quarterfinals win. Just Nick being Nick?

The last couple of days in Canada have produced a firestorm on social media, but very little analysis of Kyrgios’ tennis. Is this the image he wants?

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Winning or Sideshow?

If American legend John McEnroe did not win seven majors and become a dominant tennis champion, he might have been dismissed and forgotten. There’s no question that he would not have become a popular and respected TV tennis analyst. Winning covers up a lot of unusual edges the way a good frosting can decorate a crumbly cake.

Kyrgios would no doubt love to be a major champion, and he has clearly heard the talk about his potential in being the No. 1 player in the world, no less than from an admiring McEnroe.

And that’s the crux of the matter. Wouldn’t Kyrgios, for all of his personality, good or bad, rather be known as a champion? The only way for him to quell the rising tide of criticisms and negativity is for him to produce on the tennis court.

He will only accomplish this through dedicated efforts on the practice court, and he may have to be patient with his own development. Not everyone can burst into a champion like Rafael Nadal or Kyrgios’ new mentor Lleyton Hewitt.

Hewitt is now the one taking on some of this promise and the headaches associated with it. And maybe he can relate somewhat in being Australia’s young hope and having to fend off those that scrutinized some of his own feisty behavior. At least he is offering support to Kyrgios, and Hewitt is showing his care and regard for his country’s tennis success as he bridges from player to a likely coaching career.

Will Kyrgios’ tennis soon do most of the talking? Winning championships could be the perception change that he needs most.