THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 2, 2023

Nick Kyrgios

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Welcome to the press conference for Nick Kyrgios.

Nick, just tell us about how you're feeling right now.

NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, obviously the best tournament in the world. Yeah, I've worked extremely hard to just even be able to prepare and try and play this tournament. So super excited to be here again and see how it goes.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. We haven't seen you a lot this year. How is your body? How fit is it for five-set tennis?

NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, I still think there's some question marks, for sure. I mean, obviously five-set tennis is a completely different base altogether.

I look at my preparations last year coming in, I probably had the most ideal preparation possible. It couldn't be any different this year.

Again, I'm not going to discredit the work I've put in for the last six months just trying to maintain my fitness, get back on court.

I've been hitting with some really good players this week and my body is feeling okay. I'm going to take it one day at a time. I'm not going to look forward and put unfair expectations on myself. I'm just going to try to do everything I can, prepare, go out there and play some good tennis.

Q. Has the surgery and rehab process gone differently than what was expected, what your team and doctors told you they thought was going to happen? What has surprised you during the process?

NICK KYRGIOS: I don't know. I guess I kind of had an outline of what needed to happen. I've been really disciplined throughout that time. I barely missed any sort of part of the process. I've been working really hard. I've been trying to do everything possible.

I don't think anything went abnormal to what was supposed to happen. Yeah, I think just people forget how strenuous this sport is, how physical it is. I feel like to the outside world, people don't understand. Just because it's not contact, it's not that physical. I dare someone to go out there and play four hours with Novak and see how you feel afterwards.

Yeah, look, I feel probably as good as I could feel at the moment.

Q. Having had such a great year last year, how frustrating is it to have had to have this hiatus, especially coming in here with so little prep?

NICK KYRGIOS: Look, I looked at the positives. I got to spend some extended time at home, which I'd never gotten before. Over the last eight years of my life, I've barely been home.

In a way it was good to be home. Obviously heartbreaking as well. You're competing for Grand Slams. Last year I felt like everything kind of came together for me. Finals of Wimbledon. Barely lost a match. Had the third best season on tour. Obviously my body was just crying out for some sort of rest. I needed to do what I had to do.

Yeah, it's been brutal. Yeah, it's been hard.

Q. Last year during your run, as deep as you went here, you expressed emotions about the joy of playing and achieving what you did. What has carried over from that during the trials and tribulations of the injuries and having to cope with that in the last year?

NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, I mean, I haven't forgotten about last year. The thing about tennis is the tour is so vigorous, there's tournaments week in and week out, you kind of don't have time to reflect on anything you've done.

I've had so much time to kind of sit back and be forced to look at everything I did last year. I wanted to do more. I think the Australian Open, pulling out of Australian Open was one of the hardest things I had to do because I generally feel like, with the tennis I was playing and with my Grand Slam experience, just the way I was feeling, I felt like I could win that tournament. Obviously from then I had to get surgery.

Yeah, it's been brutal because everyone is expecting you to be the same player that I was straightaway. That's been really hard.

Obviously I played a couple weeks ago in Stuttgart. I lost, and the criticism was enormous. My first match back, it was hard to kind of just be the same player that I was straightaway.

Yeah, it's been hard. Like, I'm trying to expect the same sort of tennis that I was playing last year, and I don't think that's fair at the moment.

Q. Specifically when were you able to get back onto a tennis court? In the last sort of 10 days, how much have you been able to play, how many hours a day?

NICK KYRGIOS: I guess it took me -- I wasn't allowed to pivot for a couple months after the surgery. I was not on a tennis court for ages.

But the last 10 days, obviously I didn't play Halle. I went to Mallorca. I was trying to play Mallorca. I would have loved to get another match under my belt before Wimbledon. My body wasn't ready.

I've been waking up, doing all the gym work required, rehab, treatment, been hitting. I hit with Jordan Thompson. Played a set, felt okay. Played another set with Cressy the day before.

I've been trying to emulate a little bit of the match kind of load that I'm going to be having. Obviously you can't do that with a Grand Slam. Last year first round I played Paul Jubb, and it went for four hours.

I don't know. Yeah, I've been doing as much as you possibly can a couple days before Wimbledon. You don't want to over-push it either.

Q. This is the first time we've seen you since the release of the latest Netflix episodes. How are you feeling mentally? What kind of reaction have you had from people because of that? Why is it important for you to be so open about this, let everyone know how you're feeling?

NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, I mean, it took me seven, eight years to be able to just open up about that. I kept it very close to the chest for a long time.

But I think it's important. I think a lot of athletes kind of go through that. But just general people that go through the mental struggles, I feel like it's a bit better now. Especially males felt like it was kind of hard to open up, admit they were struggling.

Yeah, I feel very different to how I was feeling obviously throughout that period in 2019. Yeah, look, I guess I feel great now. Obviously, yeah, it's hard because I'm putting so much expectation on myself. Compared to that time, I'm feeling a lot better.

Q. Is there a particular moment or memory that sticks out the most for you from last year's two weeks here? Is there a way in which you can still carry some sort of momentum, thoughts of, look at what I was able to do here, despite having had this long layoff because of injury?

NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, look, I'm extremely confident. I've never been a player that needs a lot of matches before playing a Grand Slam. I've always been kind of on the side of not playing too much.

But, look, what I've achieved in my career never leaves. Like it never leaves you. Last year, it wasn't that long ago really. I feel like I'm still serving as good as ever. I'm still able to beat a lot of people on the court.

I just got to take it day by day. I got David Goffin first round, someone who made quarterfinals last year. He's had an amazing career, he knows how to win tennis matches. I'm just going to focus on that. That's all I'm focusing on at the moment, not so much what I did last year or what people want me to achieve this year.

I'm just going to take it day by day. I think that's the only appropriate way to take it at the moment.

Q. Last year you talked about how brutal social media was for you during the fortnight. How are you going to use your phone and social media this year?

NICK KYRGIOS: Yeah, I mean, I've consciously made an effort to try and get off my phone more and more now. At tournaments, when you lose matches, when you win matches, it's a rabbit hole. I think a lot of players on the tour struggle with that. I think many players have shared their opinion on what they get online. Some of the players share it on social media.

And it's horrible what I think athletes have to deal with. I don't think it's normal at all, how much criticism, how much negativity, how much sniping that people have to deal with now. Especially some players, it's out of control.

I feel like I'm matured to the point where I know I have to make an effort to not be on my phone as much just because, yeah, it's so negative, it's so negative. There's obviously a lot of positive as well, a lot of support, which is amazing.

If you don't make the conscious effort, it can really get you down, definitely.

Q. Why do you think that is? Why do people care so much about how an athlete like you does on the court?

NICK KYRGIOS: I don't know. It's a hard question. I don't know. What do you think? I don't know. It's odd. Some of the comments, they're funny. Some of them are hurtful.

I don't know. I don't know why they do that. I guess that's what social media has done, it's created, and it makes people think they're relevant, that they have a platform. They say things to people that they wouldn't even dream about saying to my face. It makes them feel like they're good at something when they're really not.

Yeah, it's an interesting one. But I don't know. If they're watching, they're watching. I don't know. I don't care.

Q. The tournament has tightened security. Have you given thought to your own personal safety when you are on court, after an exchange of words with a spectator?

NICK KYRGIOS: No, I've never really felt unsafe out there. I feel like my matches are definitely some of the matches where it can get pretty loose. Something like that maybe could happen in one of my matches because the stadiums are full, a lot of people are rowdy, and the crowd can be pretty up and about.

No, I don't think I've ever felt to the point of unsafe out there.

Q. How much tennis have you watched over the first half of this year? Did you miss tennis? You obviously enjoyed being at home, but did you miss tennis?

NICK KYRGIOS: I wouldn't watch too much tennis. There's a couple players that I enjoy watching. If they're playing, I might give a look at live scores. Every time 'Foe is playing or Thanasi is playing, or anyone like this, I like watching.

Obviously Grand Slam finals. I watched a lot of the AO. Seeing what Alcaraz has been able to put together in such a short period of time is nuts. He's got such discipline and he just loves the sport.

He's fun to watch. He's got so much discipline and so much desire to do well, but he's got that showman about him, as well, which I like. He loves getting the crowd involved. He loves getting people chanting his name, which is pretty cool.

But no, I don't miss the sport at all, to be fair. I was almost dreading coming back a little bit. But it's my job.