Nick Kyrgios’s sad, baffling press conference after Australian Open loss

A SAD, baffling press conference perfectly summed up Nick Kyrgios’ attitude after his meltdown at the Australian Open.

Nick Kyrgios at his post-game press conference.

NICK Kyrgios is just so difficult to understand.

As we saw on Wednesday night, he’s brilliant one game and horrendous the next. But it’s off the court where he’s just as confusing.

Speaking in his post-match press conference after losing to Andreas Seppi, Kyrgios sent conflicting messages to the Australian public.

Kyrgios looked shattered during his press conference.

He came into the Australian Open with a knee injury casting doubt on his ability to get through the major. But his overall conditioning, rather than just one specific issue, was the bigger concern.

“I didn’t have the best preparation coming into the Australian Open. (I’m) Pretty banged up, my body,” he said. “My body was sore. I was hurting.

“Poor management, I guess. I think I didn’t have the best preparation. It’s on me. Did a couple things in the off-season that I’m probably not going to do next time. It’s on me, I guess. My body’s not in good enough shape. You live and you learn.”

He said he would likely pull out of his doubles match with Dan Evans on Thursday because his body was “pretty messed up”.

He was blaming his physical preparation for his early exit from the year’s first grand slam. Or so it seemed.

Kyrgios bowed out in the second round.

Just minutes later, when asked if he attributed the loss to his physical problems or to his mental capacity to handle pressure situations, he said his biggest problem was between the ears.

“I think it’s mental. Mental side of things are big for me. That’s where a coach would be good. But obviously I wasn’t physically 100 per cent. But it’s mental, as well. A massive part of it.”

Obviously, both aspects are an important part of any sport. But with a capitulation so sudden and so severe, we wanted to know which was the prevailing factor behind his demise. Perhaps it’s a chicken or the egg scenario for him, but either way, Kyrgios just continues to baffle.

He also took aim at American tennis legend John McEnroe when told of his comments that he couldn’t accept it when it appeared the 21-year-old wasn’t trying. At various points in his press conference Kyrgios mocked the seven-time grand slam champion.

A downcast Nick Kyrgios.

His press conference was tinged with sarcasm.

“John McEnroe, was it John McEnroe? Good on him. Great career. Good on him,” Kyrgios said, most likely sarcastically.

When asked what sort of pain he was feeling in his knee out on the court, he replied with: “I don’t know mate, ask Johnny Mac. He knows everything.”

Finally, after saying he was still consulting a sports psychologist, Kyrgios had another cheeky answer when probed on details about their relationship.

“Johnny Mac will know, mate. Just talk to him. He knows everything.”

We’re guessing the pair didn’t exchange Christmas cards a few weeks ago.

Amid all the back-and-forth with journalists, one answer was particularly telling. Asked whether he feels he’s treated unfairly by the media, Kyrgios let out a suffocated laugh and said: “I deserve it. I deserve it. I’m a bad guy.”

Was that sarcasm again, or genuine introspection? Maybe a bit of both. With Nick Kyrgios, the truth never seems to be straightforward.

Kicking himself again.

LOSING THE PLOT

So, what happened in the match itself? Kyrgios lost the plot on a scale that was remarkable even by his own standards.

A game many expected the hometown hero to win in a canter lasted more than three hours and provided enough highlights — or lowlights in Kyrgios’ case — to fill up news bulletins for the next week. Seppi spoiled the script by winning an incredible encounter 1-6 6-7 6-4 6-2 10-8.

There were no signs of what was to come — it was all going so smoothly at the start.

Kyrgios breezed through the first set and dominated the second set tiebreak, but midway through the third, he went into full meltdown mode.

The umpire gave him a code violation for an audible obscenity, then he swore again after serving consecutive double faults.

Heading back to his seat at a change of ends, he threw his racquet to the ground, earning yet another code violation. The second offence saw him slapped with a one-point penalty.

It was all downhill from there.

Seppi took the third set 6-4 then raced through the fourth 6-1 in the blink of an eye. It was that set in particular that riled onlookers.

Kyrgios looked disinterested and barely put up any fight at all. It’s a criticism that has plagued him throughout his career — the fact he looked like he had given up.

The enigmatic 21-year-old almost looked like he would redeem himself in the fifth set. A late tweener when down 5-6 highlighted both his ridiculous talent and out-of-the-box thinking. Perhaps it’s a thinking we will never understand.

But it wasn’t to be. Seppi served for the match at 6-5 before Kyrgios broke him. Then Kyrgios had a match point himself but couldn’t convert.

In the end, Seppi proved his mental strength was as impressive as his ability with the racquet, crushing the local’s hopes and advancing to the third round, where he’ll play Belgium’s Steve Darcis.