Wimbledon final 2022: Nick Kyrgios opens up on the biggest match of his life

Nick Kyrgios admits he is not sleeping, anxious and climbing walls in anticipation of his Wimbledon final with Novak Djokovic. Why the tank could be on empty before take off.

Nick Kyrgios has lashed out at the past Australian tennis greats who still refuse to support him as prepares to play the Wimbledon final.

Admitting that he’s shocked to be in the final — and disappointed he got there at the expense of an injured Rafa Nadal — a reflective Kyrgios has vowed to give everything he’s got to win the biggest prize in tennis.

“The one thing for sure, whether I win or lose on Sunday, I’m going to be happy,” he said.

“It’s such a great achievement that I thought I’d never be a part of.

“Especially at 27, I feel this is the latter stages of my career. I just never thought it would be right here. I have a chance.”

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Kyrgios sealed his place in Sunday’s final, where he will face Novak Djokovic, when Nadal withdrew from their semi with an abdominal muscle tear.

He said he was disappointed not to test himself against the Spaniard after beating him once before at Wimbledon but was proud to be in the final.

“It’s not the way I wanted to get to the final. 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.

Nick Kyrgios knows his unruly on-court behaviour has alienated a lot of people but says he won’t change anything for the final.

“Obviously you never want to see someone like that, so important to the sport, go down with an injury like that. He’s just played so much tennis. He’s had a gruelling season.

“I just hope he recovers. I’m sure I’ll play him again on a big stage.

“Honestly my first feeling was a bit of disappointment. My energy was so focused on playing him and tactically how I’m going to go out there and play, the emotions of walking out there, all that type of stuff.

“But, you know, it wouldn’t have been easy for him to do that. I’m sure that a lot of his team members and himself, there would be a part of him that wanted to play.

“I thought I’d just put just a nice post up (on Instagram) to say, ‘look, we’ve had a lot of run-ins, a lot of battles. I’m sure at the end of the day everyone did want to see us go to war out there. I hope he just gets better.”

Australia has a rich heritage of success at Wimbledon and although Ash Barty won the women’s singles title last year, the last man to do it was Lleyton Hewitt in 2002.

Kyrgios says he will do everything in his power to end the Aussie drought but is frustrated many of the past winners aren’t in his corner.

“They haven’t always been the nicest to me personally. They haven’t always been supportive. They haven’t been supportive these two weeks. So it’s hard for me to kind of read things that they say about me,” hje said.

“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. That’s just me.

Kyrgios says only Lleyton Hewitt has been supportive of him the whole way.

“The 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. I’m definitely the outcast of the Australian players.

“He knows to kind of keep his distance and just let me do me. He just sends me a message here or there, ‘Keep going’. That’s literally it. Just ‘well done. Keep going.

“It’s pretty sad because I don’t get any support from any of the other Australian tennis players, the male side. Not the players, but like the past greats.

“It’s weird they just have a sick obsession with tearing me down for some reason.

“I just don’t know whether they don’t like me or they’re afraid. I don’t know what it is but it sucks.”

Kyrgios said he had a good relationship with all the current Australian players and if any of them had made the final, he’d be supporting them because they are Aussies.

“If the roles were reversed, if I saw (Alex) de Minaur in a final, or if I saw Jordan Thompson or Thanasi (Kokkinakis), I’d be pumped,” Kyrgios said.

“I’d be stoked. I’d be having a pint watching going nuts.”

Kyrgios says the anticipation is overbearing as he waits for men’s singles final.

Kyrgios is the first to admit his unruly on-court behaviour has alienated a lot of people but says he won’t change anything for the final even and will stay true to himself even though he says already feeling the butterflies.

“I had a shocking sleep last night, to be honest,” he said.

“I probably got an hour’s sleep just with everything, like the excitement.

| I had so much anxiety, I was already feeling so nervous, and I don’t feel nervous usually.

“I just know there’s a lot of people that want me to do well and give my best.

“You just have to ride the waves, roll with the punches in a Grand Slam.

“There’s definitely times where I hate this sport, but there are times where I think I’m one of the most competitive people I’ve ever met.

“ I love tennis, but I just love competing. I just love going up against someone, and I love just the winning and losing aspect of sport in general. So I don’t know if that will ever change.”

An anxious Kyrgios says he is having difficulty sleeping and already feeling butterflies ahead of the final. Picture: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Kyrgios’s new world order: Trading pints for panini sandwiches

Even when he’s not playing tennis, Nick Kyrgios is still the centre of attention at Wimbledon.

Given Friday off after his semi-final opponent Rafa Nadal withdrew from the grand slam tournament because of an excruciating tear in his abdominal muscle, Kyrgios went on a Wimbledon walkabout just a few hours before his scheduled news conference.

But he didn’t just stroll around the manicured grass courts at the All England club, the first Aussie to make the Wimbledon men’s final in almost two decades went wandering down the village high street.

Regulars in the posh London suburb couldn’t believe their eyes as Kyrgios ambled down the street — holding hands with his girlfriend Costeen Hatzi — and looking incredibly relaxed two days before the biggest match of his life.

Wearing white basketball shorts and sneakers and a green sweater and red baseball cap, his presence in the high street — in the middle of the day — was further proof of just how much the once wild child of tennis has matured since falling for Hatzi.

Nick Kyrgios and girlfriend Costeen Hatzi enjoy a stroll around the streets of Wimbledon before settling on a quaint cafe.

Cafe Demitasse where Kyrgios and his girlfriend spent some time in a secluded back room before his meeting with the Wimbledon press.

A few years ago he was spotted boozing the night away at the Dog & Fox pub — but this time he walked straight past his old haunt and headed to a chic cafe, three doors away.

A couple of patrons at the pub, enjoying an early pint in the London sunshine, wished him well and invited him in for a drink.

But he politely declined as he and his girlfriend were greeted by staff at Demitasse, a specialty coffee shop in Wimbledon, and escorted to a table in a secluded back room before his meeting with the Wimbledon press.

Originally published as Wimbledon final 2022: Nick Kyrgios opens up on the biggest match of his life