Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios was as honest as ever following his defeat to Novak Djokovic, speaking on the unbearable pressure and anxiety he felt throughout the tournament.
The Australian star suffered defeat in his first Grand Slam final as Djokovic claimed his seventh Wimbledon championship in a thrilling encounter.
Despite the defeat, Kyrgios claimed he felt the best he had the whole tournament following the loss in a candid post-match press conference where he opened up about the ‘negativity’ he experienced throughout the two-week tournament.
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Kyrgios said: “It takes a hell of an athlete mentally and physically to win one of these things. Eight people have won this title since I was born and it shows.
“Physically is one thing. Mentally it’s another beast but to come back here, two weeks in a row. None of these people in this room will understand it but it’s just different. The social media, the things you have to deal with.
“For me, it hasn’t been easy the last three or four days to block everything out, on socials and everything. Just try and find the balance.
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“It’s so easy to access all that stuff and I really made a conscious effort to just really focus on the task at hand and I don’t think past tennis players understand that either, the older guys, they don’t understand how much negativity and opinions just get thrown your way and it’s hard, it’s really hard to deal with all that.
“I commend Federer, Djokovic, and Nadal. These guys, what they deal with must be insane. That for me shows the sign of a champion. If that’s what they deal with as well, and being able to perform. That’s incredible.”
Kyrgios suffered a substantial amount of media and fan scrutiny throughout the tournament, from his controversial first-round outburst at the umpire, to being constantly criticised for not honouring the all-white Wimbledon uniform customs.
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The 27-year-old revealed the relief he felt after his defeat, noting the pressure and anxiety he was coping with in the days leading up to the final.
He continued: “I lost this match but I feel like just a weight off my shoulders. So much weight on my shoulders all the time. Now it’s just release and I feel amazing. This is the best I’ve felt in two weeks.
“I was obviously super excited to be here and I had some high hopes but I’ve never felt, to be honest, good. I just felt so much pressure, so much anxiety to do things and achieve things and if I don’t... It’s just so much.
“I feel unbelievable. I’m two beers deep.”
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Can’t help but applaud the Australian for benign so open and honest in what would have been such a crushing defeat.
Topics: Tennis, Wimbledon, Nick Kyrgios, Australia, Novak Djokovic
Jayden Collins