Nick Kyrgios says he was out to prove a point at Wimbledon on Thursday and that was to ensure there would be no more media criticism of his performance at the tournament.
Kyrgios was in blistering form during his comprehensive 6-2, 6-3, 6-1, triumph over 26th seed Filip Krajinović. A player who recently reached the final at Queen’s before losing to Matteo Berrettini. The Australian dropped just three points behind his first serve and hit a total of 50 winners against 10 unforced errors. A performance which has triggered more people to believe he has an outside chance to lift the title.
“I’m just super pleased with my performance today. I played really well from every aspect of my game.” Kyrgios told reporters.
“If I can just continue to play like that, I’m very dangerous.”
The impressive display was a stark contrast with what occurred two days ago in his first round win over Paul Jubb which lasted five sets. During the match, he got frustrated with the crowd, had a run-in with one of the officials and spat in front of those who were ‘disrespecting’ him.
As a result of those events, the Australian found himself once again making the headlines for the wrong reasons. One of the harshest criticisms came from The Daily Mail which described Kyrgios as ‘the most cretinous player at Wimbledon.’ Ironically the latest series of media criticism only fired him up.
“My performance in my first round was just not where I wanted to be, especially with the way I’ve been playing and the way I’ve been training, the hard work I’ve been doing. I was pretty disappointed in my performance in the first round.” He said.
“Then obviously the media’s disrespect and just everything, it was just kind of a reminder to put you all (the media) back in your place from the performance today.”
Whilst he is keen to shake off what happened earlier this week and look forward, Kyrgios does have an investigation looming over his head over his spitting incident. One journalist tried to ask about the incident but they were met with a frosty redemption.
KYRGIOS: Are you investigating it personally?
JOURNALIST: No.
NICK KYRGIOS: So why do you care?
JOURNALIST: Because it involves you.
NICK KYRGIOS: I’m still in Wimbledon right now.
JOURNALIST: Exactly.
NICK KYRGIOS: So let’s talk about that.
JOURNALIST: Why don’t you want to talk about it?
NICK KYRGIOS: Because I’ve spoken about it.
It is possible that Kyrgios wants all the attention to be on his tennis, especially if he continues playing at a level he did against Krajinović. However, it is his fiery temperament that can let him down at times. According to data given to Ubitennis, he was fined $10,000 for his antics in his first round match. A record for the tournament so far this year.
“I couldn’t care less if there is an investigation about me doing that, to be brutally honest. I know what I bring to the sport. I’m one of the most important people in the sport. Nothing to investigate there because it’s just factual.” He claimed.
Awaiting him in the next round will be Stefanos Tsitsipas who also produced a clinical second round performance. Defeating Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-3, 7-5, in just over two hours. It will be their second meeting on the grass this year after Halle where Kyrgios came back from a set down to win. He also leads their head-to-head 3-1.
“If I play Tsitsipas in the next round, it will be on a larger court, most likely Court 1,” Kyrgios commented before his opponent won.
“I’m excited. I feel like we both earned the right. We’re two of the biggest stars in the sport. Hopefully if we both bring our best tennis, it’s going to be amazing to watch.”
Kyrgios will play Tsitsipas on Saturday.
