Australian star Nick Kyrgios and the unlikeliest tennis comeback story

The talent has always been there. The dedication and mentality, not so much. Nick Kyrgios has put it all together — but here’s the scariest thing about his re-emergence.

Nick Kyrgios of Australia

The scariest development for Nick Kyrgios’ opponents is that the Australian isn’t beating himself anymore.

“He now believes he can win, his head’s in a good place, when you step on to a court with Nick Kyrgios, the only person who is going to beat him is himself,” leading tennis coach Craig O’Shannessy said.

“He’s going to take the racket out of your hand and he’s going to dictate. The winning and losing is going to be on his terms.

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Nick Kyrgios in action against Alex de Minaur last week. Picture: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images/AFP

“The old Nick, players would be hanging around hoping something would go wrong in his head. And now it’s like, ‘I’ve actually got to go and beat him, I don’t have the weapons, I can’t break him’.”

Kyrios defeated countryman Alex de Minaur 6-2 6-3 at the National Bank Open in Montreal, Canada, on Thursday, after already beating world No.1 Daniil Medvedev, to ensure he has a seeding for the US Open.

It was his ninth successive victory and 21st win from 24 matches since June, an unprecedented run of success for the 27-year-old.

It is the unlikeliest tennis comeback story.

Most believed Kyrgios, better known for on-court tantrums and press conference rants, would fade into obscurity having wasted his significant talent.

But he’s finally playing to his potential – even though he berated his support team and called them “f---ing stupid” at one point during his win over de Minaur.

Team Kyrgios insiders pinpoint two key factors; a vigorous pre-season training camp during which he finally began to take cardio, recovery and rehabilitation seriously, and his Australian Open doubles win alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis in January, giving him belief his body could get through a Grand Slam campaign unscathed.

Since then, Kygrios made his first Grand Slam final, losing at Wimbledon to Novak Djokovic, and won the Citi Open singles and doubles titles in Washington before surging to the quarter-finals in Montreal.

Kyrgios has enjoyed nine consecutive victories. Picture: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

“I feel like I’ve just got to keep doing the right things,” Kyrgios said.

“I’m not playing the week before the US Open. I definitely have that week to rest, recover, kind of regroup, reset.

“Last year I played Winston-Salem. I signed into a tournament, pulled out. But this year I am just going to keep that week to be fresh. Get to New York, kind of manage my practices.

“But there’s nothing guaranteed. There’s no guarantees that even if I go into the US Open fresh that I’m going to do well. There’s never any guarantees in life.

“I could go into the US Open, feel fresh, play someone on the day that is just too good. Then I’m going to regret not leaving it all out of the tank in Montreal, Cincinnati.

“I am taking it one day at a time. I am not even looking ahead. There’s so much effort going into my everyday routine now. I am not even thinking ahead. I think it is the best way to live my life is to just go day by day, try to be a bit better every day.

“When we get to US Open, we get to the US Open. That’s like three weeks away. There’s so much that can go wrong. I could roll my ankle walking to the car or something like that. I’m not going to think about that. It’s so far away.”

From the outside looking in, US-based Australian O’Shannessy has picked up on the changes that have transformed Kyrgios into a world-beater.

O’Shannessy was a member of Djokovic’s coaching team – he compiled comprehensive analysis of Kyrgios’ “unreadable” serve for the Serbian – and is now helping Italy’s Matteo Berrettini.

Tennis coach and tactician Craig O'Shannessy, left.

O’Shannessy identified a big shift in Kyrgios’ game in March this year in Miami.

“I sat front row in Miami when he beat [Andrey] Rublev, and by the end Rublev couldn’t spell his own name, his head was all over the place,” O’Shannessy said.

“I’m not only sitting there studying what’s going on, but I’m reading the body language between the two guys, and when Nick went down the early break it didn’t perturb him like it would have in the past.

“He was able to get the break straight back and climb all over his opponent.

“He doesn’t have a coach, but deep down he understands the game really well. I was really impressed with his shot selection and how he took time away from Rublev.

“When you take time away from a player, it makes their brain heat up and explode.

“Nick’s got a very quick low toss that he tosses in exactly the same spot, he’s super confident with it, he’s got great rhythm.

“Novak has said repeatedly he has the toughest serve to play, and I know that for a fact working with Novak when Nick beat him twice.

Novak Djokovic and Kyrgios after the Wimbledon final. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

“But what he does on the return is he’s started to attack it much more with his feet. In that Rublev match in Miami, he was stepping way in and taking time away.

“His backhand is so insanely short, it’s like a bunt, like a jab, which means there’s very little to go wrong, but he can still hit it hard if he wants.

“And then the forehand, he can flatten out and add a lot of spin. He probably added too much spin in the Wimbledon final, he needs to make the spin to move opponents around his secondary tactic, and use his big forehand with shape and power his main forehand.

“Come forward, serve and volley, make that his tool. I’ve been preaching that for ages. Everything in tennis has a counter, and the deep returner is absolutely open for the serve and volley play, and the serve and drop shot play.

“Nick’s got both of those shots, so he can beat anyone on any given day.”

Kyrgios spoke this week of the importance of travelling with his physiotherapist Will Maher.

“This time around it massive for me to have my physio with me full-time, I couldn‘t do that last year because of Covid, it was hard to manage my body,” Kyrgios said.

“Now I’m getting two, three hours of work every day. I’m able to back up matches a lot better than I probably ever have.

“I’m in a good mindset. My mind is positive. My girlfriend keeps me positive. My team around me, they all know mentally it starts with that.”

Kyrgios is very happy off the court with partner Costeen Hatzi. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

O’Shannessy says that new mindset has unlocked Kyrgios’ full potential.

“His whole demeanour has changed,” O’Shannessy said.

“We still saw somewhat of a meltdown in the Wimbledon final, after that first set when he got broken.

“But in general, he used to go to tournaments and be OK with getting through a match or two, and not really showing the hunger to go all the way.

“Now, I see him doing more fitness, I see him in a better mood, I see him off court with his new girlfriend being very happy, his head’s in a different place now, so that winning tennis matches is appealing to him.

“Before, it just didn’t feel like winning tennis matches was appealing to him, and therefore you had a flow-on effect of bad things happening on the court and where his temper got the best of him.

“Now he seems to be on top of it. I don’t think it’s ever going to be at the stage where Nick’s going to be the angel out there, but he certainly is much more at peace on a tennis court.

“And now he’s winning a lot, so he’s getting used to winning matches, whereas before he was used to losing, used to getting injured, used to losing interest, used to getting in trouble.

“He’s replaced the bad habits with some really good habits.”

Originally published as Australian star Nick Kyrgios and the unlikeliest tennis comeback story