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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 5, 2018

Nick Kyrgios

Wimbledon, London, England

N. KYRGIOS/R. Haase

6-3, 6-4, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How would you sum it up today?
NICK KYRGIOS: Knew it was going to be a tough match. Came out really good. The first two sets, I was pretty impressed with my performance. Obviously third set got a bit rocky. I broke him a couple times, lost my serve, lost focus.

Yeah, I mean, I knew the match was going to get tough at a certain stage. I'm just glad I got through it and didn't have to go to four sets.

Q. The New Yorker article on you from last year. They talked about at one point you had told her that you weren't fully engaged, it's just a game. Do you feel differently now because you're playing so well?
NICK KYRGIOS: Can we skip that question? Can we just talk about today? So tired.

Q. You seem to enjoy yourself a lot on grass. Can you tell us the feelings you have on this surface? Do you think it's your best surface?
NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, I mean, I grew up on grass. I played on it when I was very young. We had Nationals back in Australia. I kind of always knew how to play on grass.

I enjoy it. I think it's true tennis. There's a lot of interesting points on grass. People coming forward. You have to have good hands. Yeah, I mean, I enjoy it. I'm very comfortable on it.

Q. How important is it for you to have fun on court? One rally, two tweeners? Is it important for you to have that fun on court?
NICK KYRGIOS: Very important. Very important.

Q. Did you get the right explanation for your foot-fault issues?
NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah. He told me at any point if your foot crosses the line, it's a foot fault. I mean, I just got too close to the T.

Q. Seemed to have lost your focus in the third set. How did you go about getting it back? Was that the most pleasing thing that came out of the match, to refocus like you did?
NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah. Towards the middle of the third set, I was getting a bit out of control. I was losing my focus. I was concentrating on things that were so irrelevant. I kind of had 5-All. Didn't say a word. Broke. Served out the match.

When I found the composure again, I got on with things, was able to close out the match.

Q. You seemed to get upset about the code violation.
NICK KYRGIOS: Not upset at all.

Q. You spoke to the umpire while the Mexican wave was going on for quite some time.
NICK KYRGIOS: Does that make me upset?

Q. You had a word with the line judge, as well.
NICK KYRGIOS: Does that make me upset?

Q. Were you upset?
NICK KYRGIOS: No.

Q. Why did you have a word with the line judge?
NICK KYRGIOS: Because you generally, like, talk to someone when you're curious about something. Doesn't make you upset, champ. Good question.

Q. Could be Bernie or Nishikori next.
NICK KYRGIOS: Yes, incredibly tough. Kei is a guy I've never had a win against before. Grass is probably his least favorite surface. But he's capable on all surfaces. He's a nightmare. He's a great returner. Takes time away.

Bernie is playing at a level where he can bother still some of the top guys. Grass is his favorite surface for sure. We've practiced on it a bunch of times. I know how much he enjoys playing on it. So it's going to be tough either way.

Honestly, I'm pretty excited if Bernard gets through. I think that's going to be a fun match for both of us. We respect each other's games. Yeah, it's going to be a lot of fun. We'll see who gets through that.

Q. Jack Sock is a guy I know you get on with, play doubles with. He got fined for unsportsmanlike behavior. The hard time he's going through.
NICK KYRGIOS: What's your question?

Q. What your view on that is, whether he deserved that fine?
NICK KYRGIOS: Not for me to say. I don't have an opinion on it. He was obviously upset. He lost the tennis match. We're all human. We all get upset. He's playing doubles now. He's probably not thinking about it.

Q. What are your thoughts on LeBron going to the Lakers?
NICK KYRGIOS: I like it. I think it was probably a choice for him for something after basketball. He's got a lot of stuff he probably wants to do after basketball.

Wherever he goes, that team becomes great. I'm pretty excited for him.

Q. With the big four's domination here for the last 15 years, what do you think the next group that you're in might learn from them? What do you think needs to be done to get into the win column here?
NICK KYRGIOS: Well, Murray not playing helps. Yeah, I mean, Federer is unbelievable. I mean, the other three guys are I think still playing really good. Novak is looking really confident. Rafa beat a tough guy today on grass. Kukushkin is not easy to beat. To beat him in straight sets is really solid. Federer is just dicing people up.

I don't know if we can do much. We can just take care of business every day until we meet them. Hopefully we can play our best tennis. If that's not good enough, it's not good enough. Can't really do much.

Q. Did you talk about the Queen's Club fine yet? What were your thoughts on the fine? Why did you do what you did?
NICK KYRGIOS: Just stupidity. Stupidity pays a price.

Q. Alex De Minaur had a great win today. Ebden. Six players moving on. How exciting is that? Can you give us a little word on Alex?
NICK KYRGIOS: It's awesome. He's going to be a guy that's going to love playing on grass for his whole career. These type of balls, nightmare, so flat. He's a great returner. I honestly think he can cause some damage the next round. I don't think Rafa is going to be liking the ball that's going to come at him constantly for three hours.

It's going to be a tough ask for him, but I think he could definitely cause a little bit of discomfort. He's got a lot of good guys around him. Lleyton is always with him. Stoltenberg is with him. He's got a good team around him. So that's good. Hopefully the media just leaves him alone.

Q. Talk about Matt Ebden, generally Australia.
NICK KYRGIOS: Ebden, he's a guy that grew up on grass. He's comfortable on it. Beat Goffin first round. Never easy. He's looking confident, so... He's capable of doing good things, too.

Q. You say having fun is important for you. Do we need more entertainers in tennis?
NICK KYRGIOS: I think it's fine.

Q. More players who have interaction with the others? Would be nice?
NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah.

Q. Your opponent today is someone who uses statistics a lot in order to prepare for matches. Is that something that you do, as well?
NICK KYRGIOS: No.

Q. Roger Federer and Edberg, Bjorn Borg, used to be very passionate on court. They changed their mentality. Would you one day like to do that? Are you happy being so passionate? Do you think it would do your game some good if you could be calmer?
NICK KYRGIOS: Yes and no. It's hard for me to find the balance sometimes. I think when I'm in a calm place with a lot of energy, I think that's when I play my best tennis.

Yeah, I think yeah, it could help my game.

Q. You said hopefully the media leave De Minaur alone. What do you think they should not do to him?
NICK KYRGIOS: I don't know. It was just a joke. You don't have to take everything, like, so serious, man.

Have him if you want. I'm just saying, like he's going to have a big career. Don't hype him up too much. Like if he beats Nadal, don't say like, This guy is going to win Wimbledon. Let him alone. Let him do his thing.

Q. Junior slam champs, how their careers progress, you're one of them, a pretty huge mix of what their careers panned out to be. What do you think winning a junior slam indicates about a guy's future, if anything? Is it kind of irrelevant once you get to this level?
NICK KYRGIOS: I think the really only good thing about playing the junior Grand Slams for me was I just felt comfortable here playing in the men's. I don't think I would have had as deep of a run the first year I played main draw here if I didn't play juniors. I was very comfortable with my surroundings. I saw the locker rooms. I saw the big guys walking around. I thought in that sense playing the junior Grand Slams was very good.

I think the downside of playing juniors, when you get to No. 1 in the world, you think everything comes on a plate. Then you kind of think you're a big shot when you're really not. You got to grind out futures.

You don't really know what's coming. You go from playing these Grand Slams, to playing futures in Korea and stuff. That's the downside of it. You can get too big for your shoes, of course.

Q. You recently wrote in a thoughtful way about how being away from the game made you appreciate it more. Talk about what you really love the most about our sport.
NICK KYRGIOS: Well, when I was traveling and rehabbing, I was just watching people. I couldn't stay home and rehab and train because I had no one to do it with. When I was at tournaments, just watching people compete and win, just that feeling of winning, competing, I guess you miss it.

I'm a competitor whether I'm playing computer games. My team will tell you I'm playing FIFA in the house, screaming at the TV. I just miss going out there and just competing.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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