Nick Kyrgios experienced epiphanies playing his first major final at Wimbledon.
The 27-year-old Kyrgios said he learned a valuable lesson from his Wimbledon final loss to reigning champion Novak Djokovic—you must be a “mental animal” to win a Grand Slam.
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Speaking to Prakash Amritraj to promote his upcoming appearance at the Citi Open in Washington, DC, Kyrgios said steely mentality separates the Big 3 from the rest of the pack chasing them.
“You just have to be a mental animal to win a Grand Slam. Novak, Federer, and Nadal, I think I give them a bit more respect now,” Kyrgios told Amritraj. “Playing one of them in the final, I felt like he was fresh, felt like he wasn’t playing tennis for the last two weeks, never seen him rattled.”
World No. 47 Kyrgios said his recent move to Sydney where girlfriend Costeen Hatzi is from and his inspired run to the Australian Open doubles championship with buddy Thanasi Kokkinakis in January have infused him with confidence.
“It’s exciting; I still look back and take so much confidence from it,” Kyrgios said. “The doubles earlier in the year with Thanasi [Kokkinakis] really helped me mentally, even though it was doubles. The ability to put a length of time like that together. And to do it in my home country was massive. And I took that on the chin overseas to London…
“I take a lot of confidence. I’m a Grand Slam finalist, you know what I mean? And I never thought I’d be a Grand Slam finalist and I’ve won a doubles Grand Slam…It’s looking good. It’s looking good”
Photo credit: Getty
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