What Jim Courier really thinks of Nick Kyrgios

JIM Courier was denied the opportunity to critique Nick Kyrgios’s meltdown on Wednesday. This is what he really thinks.

Nick Kyrgios is on the nose.

JIM Courier wasn’t in the Channel Seven commentary box for the final moments of Nick Kyrgios’ meltdown against Andreas Seppi on Wednesday night.

He was busy preparing for an on-court interview with the winner — so we didn’t get to hear his thoughts on the Aussie’s astounding capitulation.

But Courier has plenty to say on the bad boy of tennis and put it all out there during a Q&A with Seven host Hamish McLachlan that was aired late on Thursday night. This is what the American former world No. 1 had to say.

Hamish McLachlan: The weird and obscure world of Nick Kyrgios was on show last night. Do you think he was trying?

Jim Courier: That would have been the question I would have wanted answered by him, because for the first two and a half sets he was in control and in command. He looked good. Then something switched and from there on he was half invested in the match. He was fighting against himself — as well as Seppi, who was doing his job a little better as a result of it. I don’t understand what appeared to be self-sabotage. I don’t understand what exactly led to that.

HM: Have you seen anyone on tour in all your years like this where a guy can switch when he’s in such control to be in such a negative state?

JC: Yes — Andre Agassi. Not so much the game style, but so much of the emotional energy. Their feeling of being a rebel and embracing that aspect and pushing back against authority. They’re similar at this stage of their career. Andre had a big transformation in the middle of his career which led to so many more titles for him — and he became a pure professional. We’re still in the early days with Nick. It’s really hard to say whether he’ll make that move.

HM: Do you think he will? Agassi left the tough start behind and focused. Nick has the opportunity to do that now. Do you think he’ll get a coach? And does he need a coach — or a more holistic life coach?

JC: If he decides he’s ready for a coach then that’s probably the first step to admitting he has a problem, because right now he may not think he has a problem. He’s ranked 13th in the world, life is good, he’s his own boss. But the reality is he’s leaving a lot on the table. There’s so much opportunity in front of him if he does 80 per cent of this stuff right, instead of doing what seems to me be about 50 per cent of this right. Think about that. Think about how good his life is now doing it the way he likes to, but there’s so much more upside. If he decides he’s ready to grab that pot of gold that’s just sitting there tantalisingly in front of all of us ... he’ll get there and he’ll start to listen. If he takes on a coach because he thinks he needs one, not because he feels he needs one, then it will be a waste of money for him and a waste of time for the coach.

HM: Can you imagine any player getting to (number) one in the world without a coach?

JC: Getting to number one in the world without a coach is highly unlikely. Roger Federer won majors without a coach but he’d already become the Fed Express. He’d already got there with the help of several coaches and knew his game and was a fully-developed player. To go from where Nick is — this amazing piece of coal that has a chance to be an incredible diamond — it takes shaping. He can’t do that alone, in my opinion. If he does he’ll be the first one I’ve ever seen, really in any sport.

HM: Explain to me playing a tweener when you’re trying to stay in the fifth set in the match?

JC: That’s when you’re half checked in and half checked out. That shot made it to SportsCenter in the United States, which is our beacon show. There’s some people who would prefer to be on SportsCenter than win a match. I haven’t talked to Nick very much in my life at all, I don’t know if he’s one of those people or not. But that’s the kind of shot you would do if you’re not interested in winning. You just want to be out there for the applause. For him to go to hitting a shot like that, in that moment, and (then) getting booed off court must have been a real gutcheck for him.

HM: You were in the middle of the court waiting for Andreas Seppi to come to you for an interview. The booing was not insignificant.

JC: It was overwhelming. It was interesting. It felt to me it was a demographic boo. The

kids, they were still cheering, they’re drawn to him. But the adults in the room were mortified and they expressed their displeasure. And Nick felt it based on what he said in the press conference.

HM: Australians are very good at giving second (and) third chances. I’m not sure how many more Nick has with the Australian public, if he doesn’t continue to try. What’s your view?

JC: I’m not Australian, so obviously you’re closer to this than I am. But what I’ve seen historically is winning is a major aloe. It solves a lot of problems. In America, we love to give people second chances too — as long as you admit you were wrong and come back and do it the right way. That’s really the story of the Andre Agassi appeal. He had a transformation. If Nick can have a similar type of arc to his story, it will be something special and he’ll have a story to tell and to sell to people. But if he goes out there on talent alone and doesn’t achieve what we all see are his capabilities, it will be interesting to see how he’s viewed in this country down the line.

HM: If you were in his inner sanctum — his brother or father or his coach — what would you say to him last night or today?

JC: Well, I mean, it’s a tricky one, right. Because he’s talked in the press conference about not being fit and maybe that was more of factor than was apparent to my eyes watching the match. Only he knows what he was feeling physically. But it’s a bigger picture conversation. How much do you want this? Are you really interested in fully investing in your career? And if so, start to take some steps. Start to chip away at that coal and see if you can put pressure on it and make a diamond. He has a long way to go to get to the best he can be, but that’s OK. Not many people have the upside he has. He needs to grab it with two hands.

HM: You would have been disappointed if you were his father of what you saw?

JC: Yeah, I think it’s tough for them, because they’re also helpless. They’re in the stands and want it seemingly more than he does. He’s on the court. The crowd is trying to get him up and he’s shaking the crowd off. He’s fighting against a lot of different things. He’s really a hard one to read. We’ve both seen a lot of tennis. He’s a tricky one.

HM: The press conference — I was intrigued to see how he would respond. He was monosyllabic, he almost didn’t answer the questions, he was rude to a lot of the journalists asking fair questions. I was disappointed with that.

JC: I think everyone would be and I think if you asked Nick today whether he’d like another shot at that — he may not say that he would — but I bet you he would feel he would. But that’s not an unreasonable reaction given the way that he led into that situation. If he was pushing back already on the court against the applause of 10,000 people, he’s not going to sit there and take it from media members he doesn’t respect either.

Jim Courier.

HM: “Black eye for the sport” is how it was described by one commentator. (Giving) his best effort is enormous because of the betting and all the attention. He’s got to look like he’s trying.

JC: It’s not a good look when he looks less interested than the people in his player box. That’s for sure. But again, people handle stress in different ways. For me, I said in commentary, I thought he was trying to send a message — at his own expense — to someone on his team. Perhaps his strength and conditioning coach. He was lashing out by a lack of energy and effort and whether that’s a black eye on the sport? I’ll leave that to Johnny Mac (McEnroe), that was his thing, not mine. He (Kyrgios) can do better.

HM: This time next year, where do you reckon he’ll be ranked?

JC: Great question. Should be top 10, no problem. This time last year when we left this tournament, I remember thinking to myself, ‘I didn’t learn anything new about Nick Kyrgios. I don’t know what’s going to happen with him. He hasn’t really changed anything at all’. And then he won Marseilles and he played great and his ranking went (up). Maybe it will happen again. Maybe he’ll have the same reaction to another disappointment here. Last year it was third round to Berdych, this year second round to Seppi. Maybe he’ll use that fuel. Without a doubt top 10 if he’s healthy and semi-committed. If he’s less committed than we’ve seen, then he could be anywhere in the rankings.

HM: The choice is his.

JC: He has a lot of in front of him if he wants it. Let’s hope he gets there. It would be so good for the game if he does. No matter where you stand on the continuum — whether you care about him or dislike him — you pay attention to him. That’s something that’s hard to get in any sport and we could use it in this one.