Wimbledon 2016: I know I can beat Murray, says Kyrgios

Andy Murray’s sympathy can go only so far ahead of his Wimbledon clash against Nick Kyrgios.

Nick Kyrgios celebrates victory against Feliciano Lopez. Picture: Getty

Andy Murray’s sympathy can go only so far with a second Wimbledon crown moving into view. So although the new favourite for the men’s singles title is prepared to act as a friend and counsel to Nick Kyrgios in the Australian’s battles with authority and the watching world, tonight’s match on Centre Court will be strictly business.

Murray sees a lot of his younger self in Kyrgios and has spoken out in his support, especially when the the 21-year-old risked a lengthy suspension from the ATP World Tour last year for his transgressions of the disciplinary code.

The Australian has earned a reputation as the game’s bad boy after repeatedly clashing with umpires, the game’s ruling bodies and even opponents - including an infamous jibe about Stan Wawrinka’s girlfriend last year.

After beating John Millman in the third round on Saturday, Murray came to Kyrgios’s defence once more.

“You guys try and wind him up the whole time. It’s not really fair on him,” Murray said. “When he makes a mistake, it’s fine. I don’t have a problem reporting on him making a mistake or doing something wrong. But it happens a lot where it doesn’t seem like he’s really done much in comparison to what other players are doing, and he’s the one that gets asked all the questions about it.”

Murray has beaten Kyrgios in all four of their previous meetings but the style and supremacy that the Australian showed in beating Feliciano Lopez to set up this latest meeting in Wimbledon’s round of 16 warrants a temporary withdrawal of their friendship.

“I definitely have the tools to beat Andy,” said Kyrgios after beating Lopez 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.

History would suggest that Kyrgios has again spoken out of turn with that assessment of his chances. In his four defeats by Murray, three of them in grand-slam events, he has managed to win only one set and has never won more than three games in the concluding sets.

“As soon as Novak loses, you look at Andy’s and Federer’s eyes lighting up. They think that their chances probably doubled. A lot of people in the locker room now believe they can win it,” Kyrgios said. Does Kyrgios include himself in that ? “Yeah,” he said. “Having been in the second week a couple times now, I feel mentally ready.”

Kyrgios beat Murray in the Hopman Cup in Perth but that is classed as an exhibition tournament and does not carry any ranking points. Nevertheless, Murray said that he thought Kyrgios had the potential to win a grand-slam title before too long.

“He will definitely give himself chances,” said Murray, who was the same age as Kyrgios when he reached his first leading final at the 2008 US Open. “He is improving all the time and out of all the younger guys, he has probably performed the best in the slams.”

And speaking about the fiery demeanour with which Kyrgios plays, Murray added: “Some days it helps, some days it doesn’t. So long as he directs his frustration to what is happening on the court and not getting distracted by what is going on off it, then it can be a positive thing.”

In Kyrgios’s win against Lopez, the 34-year-old Spaniard, he was tempestuous in the fading light of Saturday evening, dropping the second set in a late tie-break. However after the resumption on No 1 Court in the early afternoon sunshine, he was concentration personified and required little more than an hour and a quarter to complete victory.

Now he is looking forward to showing his good friend and defender Murray how much his game has improved. “I’ve got a game plan, we both know what to expect and I’m really looking forward to it,” said the youngster who was a quarter-finalist on his Wimbledon debut two years ago. “It should be fun.

“I know what to do but it’s hard to execute it against such a top player like him. Andy is a great guy, he backs me up a lot and it’s good to have one of the best players in the world on your side. I see him more than I see my family sometimes.”

Kyrgios even kept his notorious temper in check when Pascal Maria, the French umpire, delivered a warning for taking too long over his serve and he stepped up to the line on his fourth match point. Undeterred he simply powered down another big delivery and Lopez was forced to accept his young assailant was just too good and too talented.

The Times