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THE CHAMPIONSHIPSJuly 4, 2019Nick KyrgiosWimbledon, London, England R. NADAL/N. Kyrgios 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Going to the pub last night, do you think you could have played a bit better if you hadn't? NICK KYRGIOS: No. You look way too excited to ask that question. You must have a really boring life. Q. Your assessment of the way you played today, please. NICK KYRGIOS: I thought I started a little slow, but I thought he played really well today. I knew his game plan, I got onto it pretty quickly. He directed most of his serves to my forehand. He hasn't really done that in the past. It's definitely my weaker return. He was definitely trying to stay away from my backhand return a lot. But I thought just on big points, I mean, he played well. Hit his forehand extremely well. When Rafa plays well, he hits his forehand line extremely well. I thought today he was on fire with that shot. Every time he redirected, he was hitting balls just within the line, so... I thought it was a high-level match. Two tiebreaks. I played a couple loose points here or there. That's all it takes against a player like that. He was just too good today. Q. Terrific match. NICK KYRGIOS: Thanks, mate. Q. Rafa said afterwards he thought you could be a future Grand Slam champion still. I was wondering if matches of that kind of high quality where you're playing so well, looking so up for it, inspire you to want to do that all the time, go for slams, whether you believe you can win them, or if you're happy entertaining some of these brilliant matches like that? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, I mean, I know what I'm capable of. Just depends. I'm a great tennis player, but I don't do the other stuff. I'm not the most professional guy. I won't train day in, day out. I won't show up every day. So there's a lot of things I need to improve on to get to that level that Rafa brings, Novak, Roger have been doing for so long. Just depends how bad I want it. But, no, at the moment I don't think I can contend for a Grand Slam. Q. You don't want it badly enough? NICK KYRGIOS: That's two questions in a row. Wait your turn. Q. It's always tough to lose. Players react differently. Some cry, some get angry. How do you deal with a loss? NICK KYRGIOS: Nothing. I just get out of here. I'm playing mixed doubles, so... I don't really do much tonight. I don't know. I mean, I get disappointed, but at the same time I played today, I left it all out there. I can't be too disappointed. A couple points here or there. He's a champion. He played well in those moments. That's why he's one of the greatest there is. Q. When you walk off the court having played a match like that, what are the things you want to work on? NICK KYRGIOS: Nothing. I don't even want to step on a tennis court. Q. You played a great match. NICK KYRGIOS: You were at the pub last night (laughter). That's hilarious. Q. It is hilarious. NICK KYRGIOS: This is awkward (smiling). Q. You were serving and volleying very well, which is hard to do against Rafa. How did you feel about it? NICK KYRGIOS: He's just a tough player to serve against. Especially on the ad side. Where he stands is difficult because he almost wants you to go wide on the ad side. He stands so far behind the baseline, he makes a lot of returns. I think it's important to mix up serve and volley whenever you can, if you feel confident doing that. But, I mean, today I thought he actually played really well. I thought he played well. I played well. I thought it was a good match. Q. The mixed doubles aside, what does the next few weeks hold for you? Take a break? What do you do now? NICK KYRGIOS: I'm not sure. I got my house in Bahamas. Might go there and just chill out. Q. You spoke yesterday about Ash Barty, how you've known her for many years. She's been a super talent. If she ever got her head together, she'd be a Grand Slam champion. Many would say the same thing about you and your talents. Do you hope it all comes together for you somewhere down the track? NICK KYRGIOS: It's a tough question. I don't know. I kind of like -- I don't know. I don't really have an answer to that question at the moment. Sorry. Q. What did you make of the news about Bernard Tomic today? He got docked 100% of his prize money for his effort in the first round, and what kind of precedent that sets in the sport? NICK KYRGIOS: I think it's a little rough, maybe all of the prize money. I mean, one, Tsonga is an unbelievable player. Two, I think people kind of when they watch Bernard, they just think because he moves a little slow, plays the game a little slower, he doesn't look maybe as engaged as, I don't know, say, a Carreno Busta or something. They just assume he's maybe not trying or giving 100%. I don't agree with fining the guy all of his prize money. He earned his right to be in the draw. He played the whole year. He's obviously winning enough to be at the most prestigious tournament in the world. To take all his prize money I think is outrageous. I just hope Bernard is all right. Q. Two underarm serves today. Seemed to get quite different reactions from the crowd. They kind of loved the first one, some boos on the second one. They both worked. Why did you put it back in the locker after that? NICK KYRGIOS: I don't know, man. If I do something outrageous, I get, like, destroyed in the media for it. I thought I'd be professional and hit a normal serve. That's what I was thinking. No, I'm kidding. I just didn't want to hit another one. Oh, shoot me down for not hitting an underarm serve Centre Court against Rafa. What do you want from me, man? I don't know what you want from me. Q. What made it a great match was the level of needle there was, all the history. How important is it just for tennis as a whole to have those kind of rivalries? And do you regret not apologizing for hitting him with the ball in the third set? NICK KYRGIOS: Why would I apologize? Q. That's the convention, isn't it? NICK KYRGIOS: Of what? Q. Of tennis. NICK KYRGIOS: Is it? Q. If you hit someone with the ball. NICK KYRGIOS: I didn't hit him. Hit his racquet, no? Why would I apologize? I won the point. Q. He didn't look too pleased. NICK KYRGIOS: And? Q. You seemed to wind him up. NICK KYRGIOS: I don't care. Why would I apologize? I mean, the dude has got how many slams, how much money in the bank account? I think he can take a ball to the chest, bro. I'm not going to apologize to him at all. Q. Did you aim it straight at him? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, I was going for him. Yeah, I wanted to hit him square in the chest. Like, he's got decent hands. Q. Before the tournament you said you weren't sure how many more Wimbledons you would play. Do you imagine yourself coming back here the next few years? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah. Q. Really? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah. My record is pretty good on grass, no? So I would assume I'd probably play Wimbledon. Q. Ash Barty had a long break, came back, turned into world No. 1. Is that something that might help you? NICK KYRGIOS: You're taking the piss. He literally just asked that three minutes ago. Like the exact same question, right? Next question. Q. Between the atmosphere on Court 3 the other day, amazing, and today, Centre Court at Wimbledon, but people are laughing and interacting, everyone was so engaged from start to end, what does that mean to you to be able to bring that to a place like Wimbledon? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, it's special. I'm always willing to go out there and try and put on a show. I know people that bought a ticket today probably had a great day. A lot of good matches on that court. That was a really good match. I enjoyed myself a lot out there. At times today I was looking around. This is Wimbledon, playing Rafa. I'm having a lot of fun. I was a little different, underarm serves. A lot of people watching, so... But I'll probably wake up tomorrow, there will be something negative about it, for sure. Q. Do you think Rafa was taking too much time between points? Is that what you were complaining about to the umpire? NICK KYRGIOS: No, he was super quick. Q. You mentioned mixed doubles. How did that partnership come about? It wasn't really expected. NICK KYRGIOS: No? I don't know, man. Honestly, I slid in her DMs bad. She was just like, Yeah, let's play. Q. What do you admire most about Rafa? NICK KYRGIOS: I think just his ability, he plays every point. He doesn't take one point off. I feel like we're the polar opposites. I struggle so hard to just play every point with a routine, have the same patterns. I mean, his 1-2 punch, his first serve and his first forehand is probably the best 1-2 punch in the world, apart from Federer. His ability to bring it every day and compete, it's special. It's not easy. Q. Is there a need for the time management to be looked at at a wider level? NICK KYRGIOS: Like in between serve and stuff? Q. Yes. NICK KYRGIOS: I mean, I'm just high maintenance at times. I mean, it's tough. He's one of the greatest of all times, so he's probably got a little leeway, I guess. Q. Do you think the top players get special, more favorable treatment from the umpires? NICK KYRGIOS: Not really. I mean, the umpire today was horrendous. I mean, he was terrible, yeah. Q. What about him was terrible? Just the way he wouldn't put up Rafa on the time? NICK KYRGIOS: I don't know. I'm serving, I'm like starting my routine. Rafa said, Stop. The rule is like play to the speed of the server. Why do I have to wait for him to get into his rhythm every time? I got angry at the ref. He's like, No, I'll tell him what I want to tell him. I was like, Oh, a little bit of a power trip there. He obviously feels pretty important sitting up in the chair. I don't know. I don't know. He was just terrible. I thought the way he handled the match was just bad. With the first challenge, he said it didn't affect my return at all. That's why Rafa got the point. I kind of threw that game because I was losing my head a little bit. I don't know. I just don't think he was up to scratch today. That's most definitely not why I lost. Q. You might be right on that. You're within the rules. I'm just wondering, when things go wrong like that, we see other players who accept it, they move on. NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah. Q. They try not to let it get into their head, affect their rhythm. NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, yeah. Q. How much of a struggle is that to do? You have to go through that. NICK KYRGIOS: It's tough. Some people deal with it better than others. I'm probably not one of the better ones at dealing with that sort of stuff. That's just how it is. Q. Tennis is so structured, kind of uptight. You do things your own way, the way you want to. You're your own man. Talk about that. Do you enjoy that? Is that fun to do that? Something you have satisfaction just doing it your way? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, yeah. I've had a lot of fun. I know that I'm capable. I know that I can bring a level. I haven't put in enough hours. I probably haven't trained enough. I don't have a coach. I haven't been doing enough gym. I'm still going out there today and able to bring a level that can compete with one of the world's best and have chances to the win the match. I'm very confident when I'm on the court, yeah. Maybe there are a couple things I could do better. Yeah, I like the way I do things. At the end of the day, it's tennis, man. Is it really that important? I mean, everyone here, obviously, yeah. For me it's not so important. Here he is. Q. Hi. When you come to a press conference like this after this match, you enjoyed the match, you didn't enjoy to lose, which is normal, what is your attitude? You enjoy our questions? NICK KYRGIOS: I love 'em, bro. I love 'em. I love 'em. I love 'em. I love the media. Like I love doing the media. Q. Yeah? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah. You guys are so nice to me. It's amazing. Like you guys are the best. Q. Are you teasing me? NICK KYRGIOS: Don't brainwash anyone. Seriously, you don't brainwash anyone. It's always facts. Love it. Q. I was talking to another player the other day. NICK KYRGIOS: Ben's face is crazy right now (laughter). Q. She was telling me that one of the things that helped her was to see tennis as a job, because that justifies her being away from her kid and stuff like that. Have you ever thought about it as it's just a job, you'll go all out at it? NICK KYRGIOS: It is my job. Yeah, I guess it's just whatever works for that person. If it works for her, that's great. I'm happy for them. I'm not going to chop them down or be negative towards them, you know. Just the way they do it. Q. Everyone seems to have an opinion on you, good or bad. How would you like to be remembered as a tennis player when it's all said and done? NICK KYRGIOS: I'm getting those questions at 24. I don't know, man. Probably too soon. Q. Andy Murray is back in action today. Do you have any plans of going to see him at all? What do you think about his partnership with Serena? NICK KYRGIOS: Oh, his mixed doubles or his doubles? Q. Both. NICK KYRGIOS: I saw he's in, like, a tight battle at the moment in doubles. It's just good to see him around. I saw him in the locker room. We had a bit of banter. It's just good to see him. He had five pairs of shoes. I was like, Chill. A bit nervous to be back on court. No, he's good. I'm just happy to see him back. It's good to have him around. He's a good guy. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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