Nick Kyrgios has conceded that he needs to take tennis “more seriously” and hire a coach after he dramatically bombed out of the Australian Open last night uncharacteristically early. The world number 13 lost to world number 152 Andreas Seppi after losing 10 – 8 in the fifth set of the dramatic second round clash.
This. Is. Too. Much ?@NickKyrgios holds 8-7.#AusOpen #7TENNIS pic.twitter.com/ijuQkQD7kf
— #7TENNIS ?? (@7tennis) January 18, 2017
Sections of the crowd booed Kyrgios after the match, which was marked with the prodigy being issued several code violations for swearing and throwing his racket.
“It’s obviously disappointing. But, you know, it was ultimately a pretty fun match,” Kyrgios said at the presser. “He’s a great guy and he deserved it, so I’m not going to beat myself up about it.”
He continued, admitting that he didn’t have the best physical preparation prior to the tournament:
Yes, obviously [the booing at the end] is not the greatest thing to hear. I didn’t have the best preparation coming into the Australian Open. You know, I don’t even know what the score was in the end. Was it 10-8? 10-8 in the fifth, getting booed off, definitely not the best feeling.
During the ESPN commentary of the match, tennis legend John McEnroe echoed comments he’s made in the past about Kyrgios’ seeming nonchalance on the court. “It’s a black eye for the sport,” McEnroe said upon seeing Kyrgios drop one of his trademark ‘tweeners’.
Kyrgios announced during the presser that he might consider not indulging his passion of basketball quite so much – confessing that it does damage to his body that ends up reflected on the court, and that he needs to secure a coach and take it all a bit more seriously:
The coach is always a question mark for me. I think that’s one area where I obviously need to start taking a bit more seriously. I mean, I don’t think there’s anyone in the top 100 without a coach except for me. That needs to change. To start taking it more seriously. Pre-season is an important part of the year. You build foundations for the rest of the year. Yeah, it’s on me.
Good luck to him.
Source: Herald Sun.
Photo: Getty Images / Mark Kolbe.
