Simple amateur decision was behind Nick Kyrgios US Open injury

ONE amateur decision means Aussie Nick Kyrgios only has himself to blame for his US Open failure, scolded an Aussie tennis personality.

Out.

NICK Kyrgios, you are still your own worst enemy.

The 21-year-old only has himself to blame for his disappointing elimination from the US Open, according to Aussie tennis coach Roger Rasheed.

Rasheed says Kyrgios stumbled from one mistake to another in the opening week at Flushing Meadows and ultimately ruined his shot of progressing deep into the final grand slam of the year.

His injury is not an excuse.

Rasheed says the hip flexor injury, which forced the No. 14 seed to retire in his 4-6 6-4 6-1 loss to Ukrainian Illya Marchenko on Sunday (AEST), should have easily been avoided if Kyrgios had a professional team around him.

Kyrgios admitted to carrying the hip complaint into the tournament, but still elected to enter the doubles draw with Englishman Daniel Evans — doubling his work load.

Kyrgios needed physiotherapy treatment in his first round win over Aljaz Bedene and the pain and discomfort appeared to get worse as the tournament progressed.

Still he refused to drop out of the doubles.

Rasheed said the amateur decision would easily have been avoided if Kyrgios had a coach to drill some sense into him.

The Aussie wild child has been without a coach since splitting with Todd Larkham before Wimbledon in 2015.

“This is the difference between having a coach and not having a coach,” Rasheed told Sky Sports Radio’s Big Sports Breakfast.

“He complained about this in his very first match of the tournament. He actually had to get some work done. He said he had some issues prior to the tournament so why then would you be entered to play doubles on the off days?

Line ball.

“If you were looking after someone like Nick in this situation, you would say, ‘OK. You’re playing singles, on the days off there is no playing doubles. We may not even hit on those other days because all we will do is look after your body so we can just turn up and play singles and play that effectively.’

“The day before yesterday he was on the court playing doubles. If you’ve got an issue there, you are not on the court playing doubles, which potentially could go for 2-3 hours. You also have to warm up and do all those things. You could have spent that time recovering and getting yourself ready to play singles.

“A coach would definitely stream all that back. Strip it all back and really make it quite simplistic for him. He may not have put himself in that position if he was under the guidance of someone with experience.”

American tennis legend John McEnroe had a different explanation for Kyrgios’ struggles.

The original tennis superbrat said Kyrgios would not have been injured if he trained hard enough to prepare his body to play top-level tennis while fatigued.

Rasheed agreed that the hip injury only appeared to become an obstacle when Kyrgios began to get tired in his matches.

“It seems to be an injury that isn’t really there until a little bit of fatigue sets into the joint and then all of a sudden it exaggerates,” he said.

“I think what John was more saying is that we all play with a few injuries, but you could also knuckle down and compete and fight and sort of scrap your way through and not go the other way. Just give us everything.”

Kyrgios also famously declared he is mentally “a little too soft” after he was smashed at Wimbledon by Andy Murray.

Nick Kyrgios needed the trainer in every match at the Open.

“I think when things get tough, I’m just a little bit soft,” he said.

However, Kyrgios insisted on Monday (AEST) that he did leave it all out there on Arthur Ashe Stadium against Marchenko and was shattered that injury cost him a chance to reach the last 16 in New York for the first time.

With seemingly no plans to heed McEnroe’s advice, Kyrgios is pledging to learn from his bitterly disappointing US Open experience.

The defeat ended his record of never having lost to an unseeded opponent in 14 grand slam appearances and denied the 21-year-old a fourth-round shot at former Australian and French Open champion Stan Wawrinka.

“This one hurts man,” Kyrgios posted on Twitter.

“My sights were set on some great things this week ... Not the way I wanted to end the last grand slam of the year. F**king sucks. #liveandlearn. Its only a failure if you don’t learn the lesson. “Goodluck to everyone still going.”

Kyrgios’s Open ended in tears, Australia’s world No.16 unable to contain his emotions in front of a packed Saturday night crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Daniel Evans and Nick Kyrgios have pulled out.

Yet McEnroe harshly challenged the two-time grand slam quarter-finalist to quit the game if his heart wasn’t in it. “Nick Kyrgios, if you don’t want to be a professional tennis player, do something else,” McEnroe said while commentating on US TV.

“He’s hurt because he’s not training enough.” Kyrgios, though, attributed the injury to training overload before the tournament as he sought to find his best form for the season’s final slam.

The setback also forced Kyrgios to officially withdraw from the US Open doubles after he’d charged into the last 16 with British partner Dan Evans.

The injury has also cast doubt over Kyrgios’s availability for Australia’s Davis Cup playoff with Slovakia in Sydney from September 16-18.

He was in no mood to discuss Davis Cup in the immediate aftermath of his Open exit.

“I don’t really care right now, to be honest,” Kyrgios said. “Hopefully I get better in time. Obviously I want to play but I’m not really thinking about that right now.” Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt is due to name his team on Wednesday.

— with AAP