Nick Kyrgios is not feeling the love from Australian tennis greats ahead of his Wimbledon singles final against Novak Djokovic but for him, just being in the final is something special.
Still two days out from the biggest match of his career, Kyrgios said it was "sad" that many Australian tennis greats did not support him.
"Look, the greats of Australian tennis, they haven't always been the nicest to me personally. They haven't always been supportive," Kyrgios said.
"They haven't been supportive these two weeks. It's hard for me to kind of read things that they say about me.
"For instance, when I saw Ash Barty in the final of Australia, I was nothing but happy. I would never say a bad word about an Australian making a final. Like, that's just me.
"And the kind of only great that's ever been supportive of me the whole time has been Lleyton Hewitt.
"He's our Davis Cup captain, and he kind of knows that I kind of do my own thing.
"It's weird they just have like a sick obsession with tearing me down for some reason."
"I just don't know whether they don't like me or they're, like, afraid. I don't know," he said.
"It sucks because if it was roles reversed, if I saw [Alex] de Minaur in a final, or if I saw Jordan Thompson or Thanasi [Kokkinakis], I'd be pumped. I'd be stoked."
Support or not, Kyrgios is trying not to let things get to him ahead of the final against Djokovic, who defeated Britain's Cameron Norrie 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
Kyrgios of course got there after Rafael Nadal withdrew with an abdominal injury ahead of what would have been their semifinal match.
The Australian said it was not what he wanted but he would use the time to get in a longer practice session.
"As a competitor, I really did want that match," Kyrgios said.
"We've both taken a win against each other at this tournament. I really did want to see how the third chapter was going to go.
"I just hope he recovers. I'm sure I'll play him again on a big stage."
Djokovic rivalry to be renewed
With that big stage comes Djokovic and some nerves for the 27-year-old Australian, who said he struggled to sleep after being awarded a path to his first grand slam final.
"I probably got an hour's sleep just with everything, like the excitement," he said.
"I had so much anxiety, I was already feeling so nervous, and I don't feel nervous usually. But I had a shocking sleep last night.
Now that the final is against Djokovic, some tennis fans would be expecting fireworks but Kyrgios says the former bitter rivals now have a newfound respect for each other, born out of Djokovic's issues in Australia, in January.
"We definitely have a bit of a bromance now, which is weird," Kyrgios said.
"I think everyone knows there was no love lost for a while there."
"I felt like I was almost the only kind of player and someone to stand up for him with all that kind of drama at Australian Open," Kyrgios said.
"We actually message each other on DMs in Instagram now and stuff. It's real weird.
"Earlier in the week, he was like, 'hopefully I'll see you Sunday.'"
Now he will and, even with the relationship getting better, Kyrgios has often revelled in the fact that the Serbian star has never taken a set off him in two encounters.
Djokovic is keenly aware.
"We haven't played for some time, I have never won a set off him so hopefully it can be different this time," Djokovic said.
"He doesn't have much to lose and he's always playing like that, so freely, and is one of the biggest serves in the game.
Norrie gives Djokovic a scare
Djokovic is looking to win his 21st career grand slam title at a venue where he has won the last three men's singles titles and 27 straight matches.
The 27th of those victories arrived when he defeated Norrie in a match that did not always go as planned.
The only other time the pair met, Djokovic routed Norrie in straight sets and this was expected to be more of the same on Friday, but Norrie sparked home hopes of an upset early when he took the opening set.
Norrie, who with his flat backhand and heavy topspin forehand can be considered somewhat unorthodox, at least bamboozled and bewildered Djokovic for a set.
Consequently, the errors flowed from the Djokovic racquet, especially on the forehand, as Norrie broke him three times in the opening set.
Djokovic looked flat, the Centre Court crowd stunned as his lack of rhythm gave Norrie a sniff of an upset.
"I didn't start off well and he was the better player in the first set," Djokovic said.
But that sniff of a Wimbledon final was faint and fleeting for Norrie.
The pair traded holds early in the second set, before Djokovic took a decisive break for a 5-3 lead and then successfully held his own serve to level the match.
Djokovic was still hardly at his best but it was enough as Norrie's own level dipped and he struggled to land first serves or control his forehand.
Conversely, Djokovic grew in stature and took the third set with ease.
And when he broke Norrie to love in the opening game of the fourth set, things seemed to be a fait accompli.
Sensing their man was in trouble, the home crowd began to rally behind Norrie and he saved multiple break points at 1-3 to keep himself in the match, but Djokovic remained solid on serve and closed out the set to book his place in a fourth straight Wimbledon final.
ABC/AAP
