Nick Kyrgios - next big thing

First topic message reminder :

I'm ashamed to say I'd lost touch with the game of late and hadn't heard of Kyrgios until after he'd saved all those match points against Gasquet. Yesterday I went to Wimbledon, and after enduring hours of boredom inducing rain-breaks, enlived only slightly by the inane chatter on Wimbledon FM, I made a decision to check out Court 17 and the Kyrgios v Vesely match rather than Court 1 where my ticket could have given me the chance to see the Serena v Cornet upset.

Surprisingly I managed to get a seat on court 17, anticipating it would be full of Aussie fans (it had a sizeable and noisy Aussie contingent, cheering their man on). The match with Vesely (himself a former junior world no 1 and slam champion) was a real high quality affair, and Kyrgios looks the real deal to me. Great temperament - combative, but in the right doses, plays the big points fantastically well and has good skills at the net in addition to the thumping groundstrokes. He also, importantly for today, has a sound defensive game.

From what I saw of Kyrgios, he definitely has a bright future, provided he avoids injury. He won't beat Nadal tomorrow, but he can certainly give him a scare, and I expect we'll see him really shoot up the rankings now he's into the top 100.

Jiri Vesely aint bad either - has a monstrous forehand and is tough to break - though slightly more one-dimensional than Kyrgios. For me, Kyrgios is definitely future top tenner and slam winner, Vesely looks top 20 material.

Last 2 majors Rafa has drawn Lajovic and Kyrgios in the 4th round.

Compare this to Djokovic or Federer    I foresee one close set and 2 obliterating sets

CaledonianCraig wrote:I will be surprised if this isn't a straights sets win for Nadal of say 6-4 6-3 6-2. This is not a condemnation of the young Aussie but more a reality check.

Kyrgios is 19-years-old and new to the circuit and certainly not physically-conditioned (yet) to be able to compete with Nadal over potentially five sets. It will also be his first time on Centre Court and against an opponent so very far above anyone he has faced so far. Tennis is now a sport that sees players peak in their mid to late 20s and Kyrgios is still a teenager so this match is just far too soon to expect him to beat Nadal. This is not to say he won't make it to the big time in a few years time but now is not his time in my opinion.

It clearly shows you have no clue about the kid.  

Unlucky Nick, that backhand down the line missed by milis on the break point.

will nadal lose first set again?
looks like it

at least kyrgios has been dominant with his serve, and nadal had a hard time trying to keep his

naxroy wrote:will nadal lose first set again?
looks like it

at least kyrgios has been dominant with his serve, and nadal had a hard time trying to keep his

Nadal so lucky to break out of jail on 2 different game break points, for all the impressive backhand and serve this kid got a very poor reading of serve and utter poor return.

Ahh just when I thought this kid has returned 2 great points he reverted back to lose one.

2 great returns followed by 2 poor returns.  

Dude this Nadal is born Lucky.

Kyri has won 100% of his 1st serve points wow.

the guy is good

he will indeed be top player

Fantastic win for Kyrgios. New star on the horizon.

Well LF.

Big solid serve. Check. Powerful and potent BH. Check. Solid FH. Well it can improve. He needs to certainly hit through it more because he has done so in patches.

He needs to improve his movement and definitely his net play.

I just hope he gives up the challenger circuit!!

He was absolutely superb, particularly the serve and the forehand. The power was a joy to behold, and the victory was deserved.

Bright future ahead for him, just as long as he avoids injury.

He also is miles ahead of Tomic and other young guys (except perhaps Thiem) in terms of the attitude and work ethics.

Duty281 wrote:He was absolutely superb, particularly the serve and the forehand. The power was a joy to behold, and the victory was deserved.

Bright future ahead for him, just as long as he avoids injury.

Good to see you in Tennis forum and for a change not supporting England.      

legendkillarV2 wrote:Well LF.

Big solid serve. Check. Powerful and potent BH. Check. Solid FH. Well it can improve. He needs to certainly hit through it more because he has done so in patches.

He needs to improve his movement and definitely his net play.

I just hope he gives up the challenger circuit!!

Thanks, LK. It means a lot! iC and I have watched him from the AO, even the loss to Paire was close.

He clearly has the weapons LF to hang with the big boys.

The sooner he plays more tour events, the better. His development will flourish even more.

He is the real deal for sure.

He played lot better than he did against Gasquet. I thought he was Isner 2.0 not Soderling 2.0   

Josiah Maiestas wrote:He played lot better than he did against Gasquet. I thought he was Isner 2.0 not Soderling 2.0   

Korgi has a much better BH compared to Isner, or Soderling. He also seems to have the ability to change direction, like he was doing to Nadal, and breaking Nadal's FH with CC BH winners. Getting that power and accuracy is rare. Djokovic can do it (like the AO 2012 or even some Clay matches v Nadal), Murray did it at Tokyo.

laverfan wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:Well LF.

Big solid serve. Check. Powerful and potent BH. Check. Solid FH. Well it can improve. He needs to certainly hit through it more because he has done so in patches.

He needs to improve his movement and definitely his net play.

I just hope he gives up the challenger circuit!!

Thanks, LK. It means a lot! iC and I have watched him from the AO, even the loss to Paire was close.

Nice and it means you would have been aware what was in store, last but not least to beat Gasquet from 2 sets down in Wimbledon itself means a lot.   

laverfan wrote:

Josiah Maiestas wrote:He played lot better than he did against Gasquet. I thought he was Isner 2.0 not Soderling 2.0   

Korgi has a much better BH compared to Isner, or Soderling. He also seems to have the ability to change direction, like he was doing to Nadal, and breaking Nadal's FH with CC BH winners. Getting that power and accuracy is rare. Djokovic can do it (like the AO 2012 or even some Clay matches v Nadal), Murray did it at Tokyo.

His height, dream backhand and relentless serve was a nightmare for Nadal today.

Nadal was very one-dimensional and has been very one-dimensional on grass, his backhand only game will work against Fed but is not gonna work against players like this.

I watched him get crushed by a Korean lad in the juniors on an outer court last year, now he has beaten Nadal on centre!   

invisiblecoolers wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:I will be surprised if this isn't a straights sets win for Nadal of say 6-4 6-3 6-2. This is not a condemnation of the young Aussie but more a reality check.

Kyrgios is 19-years-old and new to the circuit and certainly not physically-conditioned (yet) to be able to compete with Nadal over potentially five sets. It will also be his first time on Centre Court and against an opponent so very far above anyone he has faced so far. Tennis is now a sport that sees players peak in their mid to late 20s and Kyrgios is still a teenager so this match is just far too soon to expect him to beat Nadal. This is not to say he won't make it to the big time in a few years time but now is not his time in my opinion.

It clearly shows you have no clue about the kid.  

Yes- nobody does so get off the preachers pulpit. I will bet a large sum of money that all (or vast majority) of the tennis experts around the globe predicted a win for Rafa. Great win for kyrgios but it is a 4th Round win - not a slam win. Perspective eh?

I rushed home from work to catch this match after the first but I never imagined this guy could get the job done against Nadal of all people. I honestly thought he will get tight serving for the match going on how he was when he was serving to stay in set 2 and 3. His reaction when he won the 3rd set was what amazed me as he was to focused and he didn't play the scoreboard.

I have to admit though he has a lot of work ahead of him. His net approaches were not great and at the net he made some shocking errors. I just hope he does not turn into another Isner or Karlovic or Anderson who merely has a cracking serve but no other shots to back the serve up.

Credit to the guy for doing what looked like the impossible as I felt Nadal was playing himself into this tournament. I doubt Kyrgios will be able to back this performance up tomorrow as he may not have enough in the tank for Raonic.

FedsFan wrote:I rushed home from work to catch this match after the first but I never imagined this guy could get the job done against Nadal of all people. I honestly thought he will get tight serving for the match going on how he was when he was serving to stay in set 2 and 3. His reaction when he won the 3rd set was what amazed me as he was to focused and he didn't play the scoreboard.

I have to admit though he has a lot of work ahead of him. His net approaches were not great and at the net he made some shocking errors. I just hope  he does not turn into another Isner  or Karlovic or Anderson who merely has a cracking serve but no other shots to back the serve up.

Credit to the guy for doing what looked like the impossible as I felt Nadal was playing himself into this tournament. I doubt Kyrgios will be able to back this performance up tomorrow as he may not have enough in the tank for Raonic.

Good post. I am not going to put slam titles next to his name on the strength of a 4th Round win over Nadal. Mighty impressive it was but until he consistently backs it up it won't count for anything but a sweet memory.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:I will be surprised if this isn't a straights sets win for Nadal of say 6-4 6-3 6-2. This is not a condemnation of the young Aussie but more a reality check.

Kyrgios is 19-years-old and new to the circuit and certainly not physically-conditioned (yet) to be able to compete with Nadal over potentially five sets. It will also be his first time on Centre Court and against an opponent so very far above anyone he has faced so far. Tennis is now a sport that sees players peak in their mid to late 20s and Kyrgios is still a teenager so this match is just far too soon to expect him to beat Nadal. This is not to say he won't make it to the big time in a few years time but now is not his time in my opinion.

It clearly shows you have no clue about the kid.  

Yes- nobody does so get off the preachers pulpit. I will bet a large sum of money that all (or vast majority) of the tennis experts around the globe predicted a win for Rafa. Great win for kyrgios but it is a 4th Round win - not a slam win. Perspective eh?

The interesting point is that the physical conditioning point is irrelevant. The problem with the youth of today is that they don't have enough talent. This lad did, and proved the point.

bogbrush wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:I will be surprised if this isn't a straights sets win for Nadal of say 6-4 6-3 6-2. This is not a condemnation of the young Aussie but more a reality check.

Kyrgios is 19-years-old and new to the circuit and certainly not physically-conditioned (yet) to be able to compete with Nadal over potentially five sets. It will also be his first time on Centre Court and against an opponent so very far above anyone he has faced so far. Tennis is now a sport that sees players peak in their mid to late 20s and Kyrgios is still a teenager so this match is just far too soon to expect him to beat Nadal. This is not to say he won't make it to the big time in a few years time but now is not his time in my opinion.

It clearly shows you have no clue about the kid.  

Yes- nobody does so get off the preachers pulpit. I will bet a large sum of money that all (or vast majority) of the tennis experts around the globe predicted a win for Rafa. Great win for kyrgios but it is a 4th Round win - not a slam win. Perspective eh?

The interesting point is that the physical conditioning point is irrelevant. The problem with the youth of today is that they don't have enough talent. This lad did, and proved the point.

Yes bogbrush he proved a point today but if he doesn't back it up it will go on to count for nothing apart from him being able to say he beat Rafa on Centre Court.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

bogbrush wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:I will be surprised if this isn't a straights sets win for Nadal of say 6-4 6-3 6-2. This is not a condemnation of the young Aussie but more a reality check.

Kyrgios is 19-years-old and new to the circuit and certainly not physically-conditioned (yet) to be able to compete with Nadal over potentially five sets. It will also be his first time on Centre Court and against an opponent so very far above anyone he has faced so far. Tennis is now a sport that sees players peak in their mid to late 20s and Kyrgios is still a teenager so this match is just far too soon to expect him to beat Nadal. This is not to say he won't make it to the big time in a few years time but now is not his time in my opinion.

It clearly shows you have no clue about the kid.  

Yes- nobody does so get off the preachers pulpit. I will bet a large sum of money that all (or vast majority) of the tennis experts around the globe predicted a win for Rafa. Great win for kyrgios but it is a 4th Round win - not a slam win. Perspective eh?

The interesting point is that the physical conditioning point is irrelevant. The problem with the youth of today is that they don't have enough talent. This lad did, and proved the point.

Yes bogbrush he proved a point today but if he doesn't back it up it will go on to count for nothing apart from him being able to say he beat Rafa on Centre Court.

Thats the point I wanted to say too, no pundits went on to say Nick will lose coz of physical conditioning and the worst extent to predict a score line of this bad when you had no clue what this youngster is all about, you neither watched his matches to learn he was actually a threat to Rafa.

Well before the match I told many here, if Rafa gonna stick to his one-dimensional backhand play against Nick , the kid will very well steal a set at the minimum.

FedsFan wrote:

I have to admit though he has a lot of work ahead of him. His net approaches were not great and at the net he made some shocking errors. I just hope  he does not turn into another Isner  or Karlovic or Anderson who merely has a cracking serve but no other shots to back the serve up.

Oh come on I understand you didn't watch the match properly but goodness sake come on bro, his backhand cross court is worldclass and his backhand in general is dominating. His forehand can get better and after all he is only 19, he has a serve that Anderson would dream off a more like Roddick of prime.

Please don't come even compare him with Isner, Karlovic or for f sake Anderson, he is more comparable to Del Po.

His FH reminds me of Roddick's. A flip/whip like action.

My point being though (from another post I have made). How many times do we come on these forums prior to a Nadal match and hear predictions of his opponent going to stuff him and it much more often than not fails to materialise - that is why I take those posts with a huge pinch of salt. A lot of the times (not saying you ic) it is fans of other posters posting out of sheer desperate hope that a player can beat Nadal and open up the tournament for their preferred player to win. Kyrgios was not being painted as a future slam winner amongst the youngsters either prior to Wimbledon so he has come from nowhere. Well done for pointing him out ic but lets wait and see if he can back this magical win up (always tough) before swearing he is the next big thing of tennis.

He has shown gumption and the wherewithal to come through 9 MPs and then play this match. He needs to use this win and the tourney as a building block for the future.

Recall Canas, Simon, Karlovic have beaten Federer, but never made inroads into top echelons of the game.

He can either gain from this, or let this go to his head, and lose a bright future.

@MaverickMak.. Retro Schmidli and Byron Black come to mind when you mention the beating by some lad in juniors, but do you think there is progress between these two points in time?

CaledonianCraig wrote:My point being though (from another post I have made). How many times do we come on these forums prior to a Nadal match and hear predictions of his opponent going to stuff him and it much more often than not fails to materialise - that is why I take those posts with a huge pinch of salt. A lot of the times (not saying you ic) it is fans of other posters posting out of sheer desperate hope that a player can beat Nadal and open up the tournament for their preferred player to win. Kyrgios was not being painted as a future slam winner amongst the youngsters either prior to Wimbledon so he has come from nowhere. Well done for pointing him out ic but lets wait and see if he can back this magical win up (always tough) before swearing he is the next big thing of tennis.

+1, I would say he will more tough time facing Raonic than Fed itself, atleast Fed will fight with him and he could beat him with his power, it will power vs skill, but against Raonic it will be serve vs serve, and Raonic has more experience   , Raonic would love the challenge not sure about the kid.

Yes I'd agree with that invisiblecoolers.

CaledonianCraig wrote:Yes I'd agree with that invisiblecoolers.

Lets hope Murray - Grigor could live up to the billing, I don't care who wins as long as Grigor lives to his hype.

invisiblecoolers wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:Yes I'd agree with that invisiblecoolers.

Lets hope Murray - Grigor could live up to the billing, I don't care who wins as long as Grigor lives to his hype.

Should be very interesting but sadly I will miss it all due to work. I am about 60% sure Andy will win but if Dimitrov wins then it is his biggest win of his career to date but he will be in a Kyrgios position of having to back it up against Djokovic and at mo I don't think he is quite at that stage to be able to pull that off.

Well at his age if he isn't now he's just not good enough. He's 4 years older than Krygios.

invisiblecoolers wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:Yes I'd agree with that invisiblecoolers.

Lets hope Murray - Grigor could live up to the billing, I don't care who wins as long as Grigor lives to his hype.

I have been looking forward to that match since the draw came out but I think it is going to be a damp squib! These much anticipated clashes tend to be huge let downs!

Think that a lot will depend on how high Murray's first serve percentage is. If round about 50% he will probably lose. Over 60% I think he will win. His second serve will be feasted on by Dimitrov.

bogbrush wrote:Well at his age if he isn't now he's just not good enough. He's 4 years older than Krygios.

Not at all. If he is not destined (yet) to beat Murray and go on to win the slam doesn't mean it won't happen some time in the future. He is very well positioned to win slams when the current crop of top players begin to wane.

Its been a great tourney for him, he got inspired and we can see how its given him confidence. No need to get overhyped though hes a long way to go, consistency for one is the big one. He needs to now back this up knowing that hell be a much bigger target for the rest of his life, hes also got a few holes in his game, his net play and his fh that his big serve wont always compensate for. Lets see how he handles next year, I have a feeling hes a way to go yet

CaledonianCraig wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:Yes I'd agree with that invisiblecoolers.

Lets hope Murray - Grigor could live up to the billing, I don't care who wins as long as Grigor lives to his hype.

Should be very interesting but sadly I will miss it all due to work. I am about 60% sure Andy will win but if Dimitrov wins then it is his biggest win of his career to date but he will be in a Kyrgios position of having to back it up against Djokovic and at mo I don't think he is quite at that stage to be able to pull that off.

Sadly I never believed Dimitrov as the next big thing, and his already stardom is ruining his career, I hope he comes up with some special display to showcase his talent.

On the other hand I am some what starting to believe Cilic will down da-joker. Cilic got all the talent required but some how all life lived as a mental midget, joker escaped a close shave in FO I hope Cilic gets the job done tomorrow.

Vamous Cilic, take a cue from Nick, go for the kill.

FedsFan wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:Yes I'd agree with that invisiblecoolers.

Lets hope Murray - Grigor could live up to the billing, I don't care who wins as long as Grigor lives to his hype.

I have been looking forward to that match since the draw came out but I think it is going to be a damp squib! These much anticipated clashes tend to be huge let downs!

+1 , I don't buy this Dimitrov the next big thing nonsense anyways, he is yet to beat a top dog in Grandslams.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

bogbrush wrote:Well at his age if he isn't now he's just not good enough. He's 4 years older than Krygios.

Not at all. If he is not destined (yet) to beat Murray and go on to win the slam doesn't mean it won't happen some time in the future. He is very well positioned to win slams when the current crop of top players begin to wane.

By the time the current crop leaves, I personally wish new talents come up and put this Dimitrov back to his place.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

bogbrush wrote:Well at his age if he isn't now he's just not good enough. He's 4 years older than Krygios.

Not at all. If he is not destined (yet) to beat Murray and go on to win the slam doesn't mean it won't happen some time in the future. He is very well positioned to win slams when the current crop of top players begin to wane.

Which means he's crap. Good players don't wait for the top guys to die of old age, they displace them with their new brand of tennis, new ideas and energy.

They don't just hang around. Did McEnroe? Borg? Sampras? Nadal?

bogbrush wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:

bogbrush wrote:Well at his age if he isn't now he's just not good enough. He's 4 years older than Krygios.

Not at all. If he is not destined (yet) to beat Murray and go on to win the slam doesn't mean it won't happen some time in the future. He is very well positioned to win slams when the current crop of top players begin to wane.

Which means he's crap. Good players don't wait for the top guys to die of old age, they displace them with their new brand of tennis, new ideas and energy.

They don't just hang around. Did McEnroe? Borg? Sampras? Nadal?

Its funny that CC actually supports our argument inspite of thinking of actually opposing it, CC comment clears the air that Dimitrov and Co require the top 4 to retire and don't have the quality in them to go get it.   

invisiblecoolers wrote:Its funny that CC actually supports our argument inspite of thinking of actually opposing it

Indeed

Wow, that was very impressive from Nick.  I knew he had potential to be great from the moment I saw him at the AO, but I did not expect him to actually beat Rafa.  I was hoping for a good fight, and I thought he had it in him to keep it fairly close, if he could keep his composure, but I did not think he would win.

Obviously, long way to go to fulfill all his potential, but making (at least) QF of Wimbledon, having defeated Rafa on the way is as good a start as one can hope for.

Very happy with the result - both ways.

Can't remember the last time I was so "not bothered" by a Major loss for Rafa. Nick played tremendous tennis and was fully deserving of the win. His physical conditioning was slowly dipping and I think had Rafa taken that 3rd set on his set point, it may have turned out different. But that's how it goes - don't think he'd have come back from two sets down to Rosol, but he managed to save that one. Swings in circles, as does Life. So well done Nick, and just hope he keeps playing like that for his next three matches - because if he does play like that, he will have three more matches.

Will be a serve fest tomorrow, for sure - think it will be who takes those slight chances that present themselves, but would go with Nick over Raonic at this point. That cross court backhand was rapacious, just brilliant!

Despite my favourite losing, it was still a fantastic match and Rafa hung tough, doing his thing, but Nick was just the better player at the crunch times - keep it up tomorrow, Friday and Sunday mate!

yloponom68 wrote:because if he does play like that, he will have three more matches

I don't know about that.

Also, I would be surprised if he does not have a dip.  It must be a tremendous high to win a match like this; it will not be easy to come back tomorrow fully focused.