How Wimbledon win saw Nick Kyrgios’ life spiral out of control

Nick Kyrgios has revealed how his life spiralled out of control after a shock win at Wimbledon in 2014, with the crushing pressure driving him to drink every night.

Nick Kyrgios felt crushing pressure after beating Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2014. Picture: AFP

Nick Kyrgios has given a detailed insight into his mental health battles, revealing he spiralled into “drinking every single night”.

The controversial Aussie opens up in the first episode of the behind the scenes Netflix tennis documentary Break Point, which airs on Friday.

Kyrgios said his life changed after he beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2014.

“I was 19 I had my breakout at Wimbledon and then that was it. My life changed,’’ he said.

“I went from no one knowing who I was to people camping outside my house. That match changed everything. Everything. From that day forth the expectation for me to be the next big thing was massive.”

He adds: “My life was kind of spiralling out of control. Drinking every single night.”

Kyrgios’ manager and close friend Daniel Horsfall said he would use a tracking app to find him before tournaments after he had so many boozy nights out.

“How do you tell a 19 year-old to deal with so much pressure after beating the world no.1,’’ Horsfall said.

Kyrgios with his partner Costeen Hatzi in New York. Picture: Instagram

Nick Kyrgios in a scene from Netflix documentary Break Point. Picture: Netflix

“I used to have your location on my phone and on some mornings I would have to physically go and find where you were. What hotel you were at, whose house you were staying at. Before tournaments, before a match. That was tough.”

Kyrgios’ mother, Nill, said she noticed the change in her son, as he went on a spree of breaking racquets and throwing a chair on court.

“He just became aggressive, just so angry, always angry at something,’’ she said.

There was also stinging criticism from swimming champion Dawn Fraser in 2015 when she told Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic to “go back to where their fathers or their parents came from”.

“After that (throwing the chair) he was painted as this bad boy and then he was this villain,’’ Horsfall said.

“Every article, every tabloid, every person just wanted to have their two cents and tell him what a shit bloke he was. We even had one of our sporting legends telling him to go back to where he came from. Who does that?”

Kyrgios says he needed to take a step back from the constant grind of the tour. Picture: Getty

Kyrgios said: “Racism, it was just another unnecessary thing to deal with. It hurt. First four, five years of my career it was just so chaotic. Horse was on tour with me when it was just basically him looking after me. He could see my mental wellbeing just declining every week.”

Kyrgios, talking candidly to Horsfall and his girlfriend Costeen Hatzi, said he learned to put his mental health first.

“I was like OK, I can’t keep doing this. I just had to be kinder to myself,’’ he said.

“For my mental health I could never be one of those players again that played all year round. I value my family, my close friends, and Cosi too much to put tennis in front of that anymore. I don’t think that’s healthy. I don’t really have any expectations on my matches. I just want to go out there, have fun and take the pressure off and then we can live more of a normal life.”

Tomljanovic felt like quitting after AO

Aussie women’s tennis player Ajla Tomljanovic was so deflated after losing her first-round singles match at last year’s Australian Open that she wanted to retire.

In emotional scenes shown on Netflix documentary Break Point, Tomljanovic makes the shock confession to her coach and trainer after her 6-4 6-0 loss to seeded Spaniard Paula Badosa.

“My thoughts just kind of start spiralling,” she says of the second set.

“All the negativity coming at me all at once. That little voice in your head doesn’t stop. I blink and it’s 5-0. Everything stopped being fun.”

After the game, with her head in her hands, she said: “I’m just so angry. I wanted to break all my racquets out there, all of them. It feels like heavyweight against lightweight. What is the point of being out there if I don’t ­believe I can win?

A dejected Ajla Tomljanovic after losing at the Australian Open. Picture: Netflix

“Maybe this is in my control, I’m just controlling it horribly. Maybe I’m doing something wrong I don’t know. It’s easy, I just retire. I feel like, well, am I f--king crazy? It’s screwing up my mind.”

Earlier in the doco she speaks of how she feels pressure and expectation.

“When I was like seven I already had this dream of winning a slam,” Tomljanovic said.

“You dream the biggest when you’re a kid. You’re coming into this slam ranked 40, why are you expecting so much? I know what I’m capable of and I know how much work I’ve put in.

“As soon as I picked up a racquet I fell in love with the sport.”

Tennis legend Chris Evert has become a mentor, saying in the doco that the Aussie was capable of reaching the top 10 but needed an edge.

“I remember meeting Ajla when she was 12 years old,” Evert said.

“I saw a player that had potential. I grew very close to her and became her mentor.

“There are more than 10,000 women pros, and to get to the top 50 is a big achievement, but she could be top 10. I always thought the thing missing from her was her toughness. I said ‘you’re too nice. You’ve got to be a little bitchy out there sometimes. You’ve got to be mean’.”

Tomljanovic last month pulled out of the United Cup with a knee injury.

The absence is likely to cost her a seeding for next week’s Australian Open.