LONDON: After Nick Kyrgios shut out Cristian Garin in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, he sank into his courtside seat, towel wrapped around his arched frame and elbows on his knees. The 27-year-old recalled his journey, staying with the dark moments before returning to Court No. 1, the scene of many an epochal moment for the Aussie in these championships.
Kyrgios is now in his maiden major final after a weather-beaten Rafael Nadal’s late withdrawal, but the Aussie spoke hours before Nadal forfeited their semifinal match.
“There was a point where I was almost done with the sport,” Kyrgios said. “I posted (on social media) this year about the mental state I was in in 2019 when I was at the Australian Open with self-harm and suicidal thoughts. I’m sitting here today after the match, to be a semifinalist at Wimbledon, it’s a special accomplishment for everyone, but especially for me, I think.”
Kyrgios rose to a career-best No. 13 at the end of 2016 and looked set to break into the top-10 if he just got his act together.
“If you asked anyone whether I would do this the last couple years, they would’ve probably said, ‘No!’ He doesn’t have the mental capacity, he doesn’t have the fitness, he doesn’t have the discipline,” Kyrgios said.
“I almost started doubting myself with all that traffic coming in and out of my mind. So, I just sat there today and soaked it all in,” he said of the moments after his last-eight win.
“There’s just so many people I want to thank. At the same time, I don’t want to stop here either.”
Kyrgios is caught in a storm of a different velocity, having been served court summons for assaulting a former girlfriend in Canberra.
"I have a lot of things I want to say, my side of it,” Kyrgios said of the allegations. “I’ve been advised by my lawyers that I’m unable to say anything at this time.”
Kyrgios had heard about the summons, scheduled for August, before his clash against Garin.
“Everyone else was asking questions. It was hard to kind of just focus on the mission at hand,” he said.
Nadal, the second seed, leads Kyrgios 6-3 in head-to-head clashes, but the point is now moot with Nadal having withdrawn late on Thursday. In the past, the duo have , split their Centre Court tussles with one win apiece.
“We are two completely different personalities. I feel like we respect the hell out of each other,” Kyrgios said.
