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AUSTRALIAN OPENJanuary 21, 2015Nick KyrgiosMELBOURNE, VICTORIA N. KYRGIOS/I. Karlovic 7-5, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 An interview with: NICK KYRGIOS THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Did you feel good out there tonight? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, it was a lot of fun. The crowd was really good. I remember it from last year. I played my first round out there. Thanasi said it was going to be a crazy atmosphere. I thought it was a good performance. Q. Physically and mentally did you feel better than in round one? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah. I knew it was going to be tough. Serving is the main thing that does trouble the back. I knew it was going to be mentally tough as well. He has the best serve on tour I think. I think he hit 37 aces. I knew what I had to do out there to get the job done. I was really happy with that. Q. How much did the crowd help you in the tough moments? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, I thought the crowd was massive today. They got behind me a lot at some really key moments. They got a bit carried away with some things. That's going to happen. It was a lot of fun as well. I was interacting with the crowd. At stages they were telling me where he was going to serve. They obviously think it's pretty easy out there. No, it was a lot of fun. Q. The atmosphere on Rod Laver compared to a show court is a lot different. Do you have a preference either way? NICK KYRGIOS: No, I don't mind. I guess when you play on a show court you know it's going to get a bit more rowdy, a bit more out of control I think. I've never actually played on Rod apart from my junior final against Thanasi. The crowd was pretty empty for that. Yeah, I've never experienced that, so I can't give you that answer. Q. Do you feel the crowd is giving the Australian players an advantage? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, they're getting behind us. I think it's tough right now when you have Groth versus Kokkinakis, who to go for. But, yeah, I think they're helping the Aussies a lot. Q. Did you put in a request for a show court or... NICK KYRGIOS: No, I didn't put a request for any court. I just saw I was on Show Court 3. It's a good court. I'm not going to complain. It's a Grand Slam. Yeah, it was a really good court. Q. Ivo felt he was pretty lethargic in the first two sets. Did you pick up on that? NICK KYRGIOS: He's a big fella. I didn't really notice. I was just seeing his serves go past me continuously. I got a little sneak of a break in the second set, which was good. I knew that the first set was going to be massive. I didn't want to give him too much confidence with his serve. I thought I played a really good first two sets. Q. You seemed a little more composed this round than last round. A particular reason why? NICK KYRGIOS: I just wanted to get into the event. I think the first round there was a lot of expectation and pressure to do something. When I got past that round - it was the first win for me in a long time - it gave me a lot of confidence in my game. I knew I was going to see a lot of serving today and stay calm and collected and take my chances when they came. Q. How is your back feeling? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, it's okay. Q. What do we take from your hair? What does it tell us about your personality? Tell us a little bit about your eyebrow, too. NICK KYRGIOS: I don't know. I guess it's just youth. You know, you're not going to see Roger or Novak doing things like this. I don't know. Just doing it. Q. It's a bit of fun for you, too? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, I guess. I got sort of known for having some lines in my hair at some stage last year. It's my last Grand Slam as a teenager. I don't think I'll be doing this stuff when I'm 20. Q. Are you someone who looks ahead in the draw? NICK KYRGIOS: Not usually, but it's hard when social media these days when guys are saying, Kyrgios, Federer fourth round when the draw just came out. It's hard not to look ahead, but I think especially for me, this tournament I wasn't looking too far ahead. I knew that I had a big task ahead of me with Delbonis. I'm really happy that I'm getting through. Q. Any thoughts on that potential matchup? NICK KYRGIOS: Not at this stage, no. Q. How much does it do for your confidence, beating a player that you regard so highly? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, I'm feeling really confident now, especially I played a good clay-courter first round. I thought he played really well. Obviously physically backing up after five sets as well, I can take massive confidence out of that. Ivo today, I thought he had the best year of his life last year. He got to top 20 at some stage. He's 25 now. He's playing some good tennis. With that serve, he can obviously beat a lot of players. I think he beat Djokovic a couple weeks ago. I knew he was going to be tough. That gives me massive confidence. Q. How much attention do you pay to what's going on in the media? NICK KYRGIOS: A lot. It's hard to not read that stuff. I mean, there should be a lot of expectation on Australians playing their home Grand Slam. We all know there's a lot of expectation on us. It's fair enough. We should be performing at Grand Slams. Yeah, I'm just happy I got through. Q. Was there one rivalry when you were younger growing up that you really watched that you liked to watch as a fan, I guess? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, I mean, it's hard to go past Federer and Nadal. I mean, they haven't played each other in a long time, but every time they were in the same section or anything like that, they're definitely thinking about it. I think it's the greatest rivalry of all time. That's the generation I was watching when I was a kid. I mean, I still am a kid. It's happened pretty quick. Q. You have doubles tomorrow with Thanasi. What can the fans look forward to with that one? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, we'll see how he goes out there today. He might be struggling a little bit physically. I'm not too sure at the moment. A lot of fun. Last time we played doubles we played junior Wimbledon together and we won that. Just a bit of fun and a bit of excitement. It will be a lot of fun out there. Q. How do you go about preparing for a serve like Ivo has got? NICK KYRGIOS: You can't. You can't prepare for it. Like you actually can't. Q. I don't know if it was lost in translation, but Ivo seemed to say that you only play cross-court, asking about your game. He thought that was something he could have taken advantage of, but he wasn't feeling it in the first two sets. Does that mean anything to you? NICK KYRGIOS: No. No, nothing. I don't have an answer for that. Q. Can you explain your feelings going into the third round. Are you nervous? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah. I mean, I'm going to feel nervous when I walk out on the court. I know it's a good opportunity at a Grand Slam to play someone unseeded. I know there's a lot of expectation. I'm going to go out there -- do everything I can the next couple days to recover and go out there and give it my best. Q. Roger-Vasselin or Jaziri in the next round. They're going into a fifth set. That will play in your favor? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, I think they're two fit guys. They've done it before. I don't think it's too much of an issue. I know they're two really good competitors. I played Jaziri before; I never played Roger-Vasselin. He played Luke last week, so I'm going to get some tips from him. But they're two really good players, so I'm looking forward to that. Q. Are you the sort of guy that reads the papers? NICK KYRGIOS: Not really. But I read a paper today when I got lunch. It had this really funny caption. It was me, Thanasi, and Lleyton doing a c'mon. He was like a midget. I thought it was funny. Q. Did you read any of what Pat Rafter was saying? NICK KYRGIOS: No. Q. Will you watch Thanasi? NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, I was watching a bit before when I was stretching. Yeah, I'll go watch a little bit of that. Q. What is your relationship like with Pat Rafter? NICK KYRGIOS: It's pretty good, as far as I know. We got pretty close in Perth, as you guys know as well. I think it's good. We're learning each other. Especially over the IPTL. I got to know him a lot better off the court as well. He only wants to see the best out of us guys. So that's good. Q. He said you were perhaps a bit emotional. You were saying this is your last Grand Slam as a teenager. Do you see yourself lowering your bravado on court as you progress through? NICK KYRGIOS: Say again. Q. As you get older, do you think your bravado and showmanship on court... NICK KYRGIOS: Are you asking me if I'm going to mature? Q. Pat Rafter said you were still a bit too emotional on court. NICK KYRGIOS: Uhm, geez, I don't know. I don't know what to say to that. He has his own opinion, I guess. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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