Nick Kyrgios

Personal life

Kyrgios was born in Canberra, Australia. He is the son of a Greek father, Giorgos ("George"), and a Malaysian mother, Norlaila ("Nill"), who comes from the Malaysian town of Gombak, Selangor. His father is a self-employed house painter, and his mother is a computer engineer. His mother was born in Malaysia as a member of the Selangor royal family, but dropped her title as a princess when she moved to Australia in her twenties. He is the third of three children; his brother, Christos, is a lawyer, and his sister, Halimah, is an actress. Kyrgios attended Radford College until Year 8 and completed his Year 12 certificate in 2012 at Daramalan College in Canberra. He is a Greek Orthodox Christian and always wears a gold necklace with a cross on it.

Kyrgios was a promising basketball player who represented the Australian Capital Territory and Australia in his early teens before deciding to focus solely on tennis when he was 14 years old. Two years later he gained a full scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport, where he was able to further develop his tennis. In 2013, Kyrgios relocated his training base from Canberra to Melbourne Park in an attempt to further his career with better facilities and hitting partners. A year later Tennis ACT announced a $27 million redevelopment of the Lyneham Tennis Centre in Canberra to lure Kyrgios back home and host Davis Cup and Fed Cup ties. Kyrgios confirmed in January 2015 that he would return home and base himself out of Canberra. He also donated $10,000 towards the Lyneham Tennis Centre redevelopment.

Kyrgios is an avid fan of the Boston Celtics in the NBA and Tottenham Hotspur in English football's Premier League. His sports idol is NBA player Kevin Garnett. His idols growing up were Roger Federer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, LeBron James, and Michael Jordan. Kyrgios also supports the North Melbourne Kangaroos Football Club in the Australian Football League.

Junior career

Kyrgios won his first ITF junior tour title in Fiji in June 2010, aged 15. He started to compete more regularly on the junior tour in 2011, making his junior grand slam debut at the 2011 Australian Open. During 2012 he won two junior grand slam doubles titles and rose to junior world number three, though he withdrew from the Australian Open Men's Wildcard Playoff due to injury. Moving into 2013, he gained the number 1 junior ranking by defeating Wayne Montgomery in the Traralgon International final. A week later he entered the Australian Open as the juniors number 3 seed and progressed to the final against fellow Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis. After saving two set points in the first set, Kyrgios won his first and only junior grand slam title.

2012

In his first round qualifying match at the 2012 Australian Open, Kyrgios won the first set in a tiebreak. However, his opponent Mathieu Rodrigues cruised through the second and third sets to eventually defeat Kyrgios. Kyrgios then competed on the 2012 ITF Men's Circuit for the rest of the season, competing in tournaments in Australia, Germany, Japan and Slovenia. At the end of the season, he had reached a semifinal and a quarterfinal in Australian tournaments. He finished the year with a singles ranking of 838.

2013

Kyrgios commenced the year ranked at number 838 and played his first professional tournament of the year at the 2013 Brisbane International, losing in the first round of qualifying to James Duckworth. He then lost in the first round of qualifying at the 2013 Australian Open to Bradley Klahn in straight sets. After winning the Boys' Singles, Kyrgios said his goal was to reach the top 300 by the end of the year.

Following his victory at the Australian Open Boys tournament, he received a wildcard into his first ATP challenger event at the 2013 Charles Sturt Adelaide International. He opened with a win against the sixth seed, Brydan Klein, in the first round. He then proceeded to defeat Suk-Young Jeong and Greg Jones in straight sets to reach the semifinal. He ultimately lost to English player James Ward in three sets in the semifinal. He then played two consecutive Futures tournaments. In the Australia F1 he reached the quarterfinal after defeating Ryan Agar in straight sets, then Jose Statham in three sets. He went down to Michael Venus in the quarterfinals. He then lost to Brydan Klein in the first round of the Australia F2 in straight sets. He was a wildcard at his next tournament, the 2013 Nature's Way Sydney Tennis International. He upset the sixth seed Brydan Klein in two sets in the first round. He went on to defeat Ivo Klec, Greg Jones, and then the fifth seed, Stéphane Robert, to reach his first challenger final. In the final, he defeated fellow countryman Matt Reid in straight sets to win his first challenger tour title at the age of 17.

Kyrgios was given a wildcard into the qualifying competition of the 2013 French Open. However, on 20 May it was announced that John Millman was forced to withdraw from the main draw due to injury, which meant Kyrgios' wildcard was raised to the main draw. This meant he would compete in a main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. In the first round Kyrgios had the biggest win of his career to date against the former world number 8 Radek Stepanek in three sets, each of these ending in tiebreaks, giving him the first ATP Tour level win of his career. Although he ultimately lost to Marin Cilic in the following round, his ranking rose to number 213. Kyrgios later qualified for the 2013 US Open, where he was beaten by 4th seed David Ferrer in his opening match. He reached a new career high of number 186 on 9 September 2013. In October, Kyrgios made the semifinal of the 2013 Sacramento Challenger, before falling to Tim Smyczek. He ended the year with a singles ranking of 182.

2014: Wimbledon quarterfinal

Kyrgios was to commence the 2014 season by making his debut at the 2014 Brisbane International after receiving a wildcard. However, he withdrew before the commencement due to a shoulder injury. On 8 January, Kyrgios was awarded a wildcard into the 2014 Australian Open, where he won his first-round match against Benjamin Becker in four sets. He lost in the second round to the 27th seeded Benoît Paire in five sets despite winning the opening two sets.

Kyrgios received a wildcard into the 2014 U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships, where he lost his first-round match to Tim Smyczek in three sets. Kyrgios was then forced to withdraw from numerous ATP tournaments in Delray Beach and Acapulco due to an elbow injury.

Kyrgios returned at the 2014 Sarasota Open where he reached the final by defeating Jarmere Jenkins, Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo, Donald Young and coming from a set down against Daniel Kosakowski. He defeated Filip Krajinović in straight sets for his second career challenger title. Kyrgios reached the final of the 2014 Savannah Challenger, where he defeated second seed Jack Sock for the title. Kyrgios received a wildcard into the 2014 French Open. He was defeated in the first round in straight sets by 8th seed Milos Raonic. Kyrgios won his 4th career challenger title and his 3rd of 2014 when he won the 2014 Aegon Nottingham Challenge beating fellow Australian Sam Groth in straight set tiebreaks.

In June, Kyrgios received a wildcard to the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. In the first round he defeated Frenchman Stéphane Robert in four sets to advance to the second round, where he defeated 13th seed, Richard Gasquet in a five set thriller in which he had to come back from two sets to love down, and save nine match points over the fourth and fifth sets. In the third round, Kyrgios beat Czech Jiří Veselý in four sets, before going on to record the biggest win of his career so far by beating world number one Rafael Nadal in four sets to become the first male debutant to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals since Florian Mayer in 2004. The shot of this match was a rear-forehand, half-volley winner from between Kyrgios' legs that David Polkinghorne of The Canberra Times described as "freakish" and "audacious". Kyrgios subsequently lost to eighth seed Milos Raonic in four sets. Having reached the quarterfinals, Kyrgios, ranked 144th at the time, broke into the top 100 of the ATP World Rankings for the first time in his career. Following his Wimbledon performance, Kyrgios' ranking rose to 66. He came away with AU$409,806 in prize money for reaching the quarterfinals—having earned just $248,000 in his career before the tournament.

In the Rogers Cup tournament in Toronto following Wimbledon, Kyrgios earned his first ATP World Tour Masters event win with a first-round victory over Santiago Giraldo in straight sets. Kyrgios lost in the second round to 8th-seed Andy Murray, winning just four games. In the US Open, Kyrgios made it to the third round, defeating Mikhail Youzhny (seeded 21st) in four close sets, and Andreas Seppi in straight sets, before losing to 16th seed Tommy Robredo in four.

Kyrgios later played in the Malaysian Open, but lost in the first round. He skipped the rest of the season, citing burnout. He ended the year ranked 52nd in the world, and the no. 2 ranked Australian behind Lleyton Hewitt.

2015: Second major quarterfinal, maiden ATP final and top 30

Kyrgios began his season at the Sydney International, but lost his opening match against Jerzy Janowicz in three tightly contested sets. This was followed by an appearance at the 2015 Australian Open, where he received direct entry due to his ranking for the first time. He defeated Federico Delbonis in a five-set thriller in his opening match, before going on to beat the 23rd seed Ivo Karlović in the second round and then Malek Jaziri in straight sets in the third. He then faced Andreas Seppi, who had just beaten Roger Federer in his previous match, in the fourth round. Kyrgios fell two sets behind and faced a match point late in the fourth set but recovered to win in five sets, the final set lasting 14 games. He thus became the first teenage male to reach two Grand Slam quarterfinals since Federer in 2001, and the first Australian male to reach the quarterfinals since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005, and the first Australian of any gender since Jelena Dokić in 2009. Kyrgios lost to eventual finalist Andy Murray in the quarterfinals in three sets. Following the tournament, he reached a career-high ranking of no. 35 in the world. He later withdrew from tournaments in Marseille and Dubai due to a back injury he suffered during the Australian Open. In Indian Wells, he served for the match against Grigor Dimitrov, but rolled his ankle and ultimately lost. He stated he would be out 4–6 weeks due to the ankle injury.

He returned in the Barcelona Open. After receiving a bye in the first round, he would lose in three sets against fellow 19-year-old Elias Ymer. At the Estoril Open, Nick reached the final of an ATP tournament for the first time in his career, after defeating Albert Ramos in three sets and over two hours, Filip Krajinovic in two sets, Robin Haase under an hour and Pablo Carreno-Busta in nearly two hours. He then lost to the fifth seed Richard Gasquet in the final in straight sets.

At the Madrid Open a week later, Kyrgios defeated world number two and 17-times Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in the second round, saving two match points in the final set tie-break in the process. He then had a three-set loss to John Isner in the third round. Prior to his finalist appearance at Estoril and round-of-16 finish in Madrid, Kyrgios had the unique distinction of having won more matches in Grand Slams (10 wins) than on the regular ATP Tour (2 wins).

Later in May at the French Open, Kyrgios was seeded 29th, his first Grand Slam seeding. He won in straight sets in the first round against Uzbekistani Denis Istomin. He then received a walkover into the third round after his scheduled second round opponent, Kyle Edmund, withdrew with injury. In the third round, he lost in straight sets to third seed Andy Murray. In the doubles, Kyrgios and partner Mahesh Bhupathi lost in straight sets in the first round to wild cards Thanasi Kokkinakis and Lucas Pouille.

Seeded 26th at Wimbledon, Kyrgios opened with straight-set victories over Argentines Diego Schwartzman and Juan Mónaco in the first and second rounds respectively. In the third round, despite losing the first set, he advanced past seventh seed Milos Raonic before losing to Richard Gasquet in the fourth round, squandering set points in the fourth. During the tournament, he was involved in several controversies during matches, all of which resulted in code violation warnings. During his first round match against Schwartzman, Kyrgios threatened to stop play following a disputed line call. In the following match, he was heard saying "dirty scum" by a linesman; Kygrios said his words were not directed toward the umpire chair. During his third round match against Raonic he smashed his racket, which bounced into the spectators stands, following a missed break point. Kyrgios fell out of the top 40 in the rankings following the tournament.

2016: Hopman Cup champion, top 15 and first 500 title

Kyrgios began his year at the Hopman Cup alongside Daria Gavrilova as part of the Australia Green team. In the round robin, Australia Green won 3–0 against Germany, with Kyrgios winning his singles match against Alexander Zverev in three sets, and later partnering Gavrilova for a three-set win in the mixed doubles. In his second round robin tie against Great Britain, Kyrgios recorded his first ever win against then World Number 2 Andy Murray in straight sets and he also won the doubles with Gavrilova in three sets, to claim a 2–1 win over the British team. He went on to win the Hopman Cup with Gavrilova, defeating Ukraine in the final which earned Kyrgios his first professional title of any category of professional tennis on the World Tour.

At the Australian Open he claimed straight set wins over Pablo Carreno Busta and Pablo Cuevas before losing to 6th ranked Tomáš Berdych in 4 sets.

Kyrgios won his maiden ATP title at the Open 13 in Marseille by defeating world number ten Richard Gasquet in the quarter final, world number eight Tomáš Berdych in the semi final and world number twelve Marin Čilić in the final, all in straight sets. Kyrgios finished the tournament without having his serve broken.

At the Dubai Tennis Championships Kyrgios reached the semi-finals where he retired against Stan Wawrinka whilst down 4–6 0–3. His run included a second consecutive victory over Tomáš Berdych again in straight sets in the Quarter Finals, and wins against Mikhail Kukushkin and Martin Klizan. At the 2016 Indian Wells tournament, he lost in the first round to Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6–7 5–7.

At the 2016 Miami Open Kyrgios reached his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final with straight sets wins against Marcos Baghdatis, Tim Smyczek, Andrey Kuznetsov, and Milos Raonic. He lost in the semis in straight sets to Kei Nishikori. Following the tournament, Kyrgios moved into the world's top 20 for the first time, becoming the youngest player to be ranked in the top 20 since Marin Čilić, seven years previously.

Kyrgios then played in the Estoril Open his first clay tournament of the year. He was the runner up here last year. He played his first match on his birthday winning 7–6(4) 7–5 against Inigo Cervantes. He then played Borna Coric, defeating him in straight sets, 6–4 6–4. In the semifinals he lost to eventual champion Nicolas Almagro in straight sets, 3–6 5–7.

He then played in his first clay court Masters 1000 event of the season in the Mutua Madrid Open. He opened his campaign against Guido Pella in his first round, winning 7–6(7) 6–4. He then defeated world number 4 Stan Wawrinka in the second round and Pablo Cuevas in the third round, before losing in the quarterfinals to world number six Kei Nishikori in three sets.

Kyrgios next played at the Rome Masters, defeating local wildcard Salvatore Caruso and world number ten Milos Raonic in the first two rounds before losing to 5th seed Rafael Nadal, 7–6(3) 2–6 4–6 in the third round.

Kyrgios then played at the second major of the year at the French Open as the 14th seed where he defeated Marco Cecchinato and Igor Sijsling to reach the third round, before losing to 9th seed Richard Gasquet. Kyrgios then had a first round loss at Queen's Club to 3rd seed Milos Raonic despite winning the first set.

Kyrgios then played at the third major of the year at Wimbledon as the 15th seed. He advanced to the fourth round after defeating Radek Štěpánek, Dustin Brown and Feliciano López. In the fourth round Kyrgios lost to 2nd seed and eventual champion Andy Murray.

Kyrgios then competed at the Rogers Cup as the 11th seed, where he lost in the first round to wildcard and home favorite Denis Shapovalov. Kyrgios then played at Atlanta as the 2nd seed. He advanced to the final after defeating wildcard Jared Donaldson, 5th seed Fernando Verdasco and unseeded Yoshihito Nishioka. In the final Kyrgios faced number 1 seed and three times defending champion John Isner, and defeated him to win his second ATP title. Kyrgios reached a career high ranking of number 16 following the tournament.

Kyrgios reached the 3rd round of the 2016 US Open (tennis) before retiring with a hip injury, that had also affected him in previous rounds, against Illya Marchenko. He returned with a straight sets win in his rubber for Australia in the Davis Cup World Group playoff.

In October, after a 2nd round loss against Kevin Anderson at the 2016 Chengdu Open, Kyrgios immediately bounced back by winning his first ATP World Tour 500 series title in Tokyo at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, defeating David Goffin in three tight sets. This was the biggest tournament win of his career.

2017: Wins vs Djokovic, Nadal & first masters final

Kyrgios started the season at the 2017 Hopman Cup. He defeated Feliciano López and Adam Pavlásek but lost to Jack Sock. At the 2017 Australian Open, Kyrgios was seeded 14th. He defeated Gastão Elias before falling to Andreas Seppi in round 2, despite leading 2 sets to 0. At the Mexican Open, Kyrgios defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the quarter-finals. In doing so, he had managed to defeat all of the big 3 – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic – in his first attempt. Djokovic had managed to win just 20.5% of return points in the match, his lowest ever in a tour match. Kyrgios eventually fell to Sam Querrey in 3 sets in the semifinals. Kyrgios yet again defeated Djokovic in straight sets in the 4th round of the Indian Wells Masters tournament. He then withdrew from his quarter-final match with Roger Federer due to illness. He then moved to Miami. He beat David Goffin and Alexander Zverev before losing in the semi-finals in three tiebreak sets to Roger Federer in three hours and ten minutes.

Kyrgios then participated in Madrid, where he lost in straight sets in the third round to Rafael Nadal. At Roland Garros, Kyrgios lost to Kevin Anderson in the second round after winning the first set. He then withdrew from his first round matches at Queen's Club, Wimbledon and Washington due to injuries. After his recent slump in form, Kyrgios then reached the third round of the Montreal Masters, where he lost to Alexander Zverev in straight sets. In the Cincinnati Masters, Kyrgios made it to the quarterfinals, where he defeated World No.2 Rafael Nadal in straight sets. He followed that up with a victory over David Ferrer to make it to his first Masters 1000 final, where he lost to Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets.

Davis Cup

Kyrgios made his Davis Cup debut for Australia in September 2013 against Poland at the age of 18. He replaced Marinko Matosevic after defeating him in a playoff during the lead-up to the tie. He was selected to pair with Chris Guccione in the crucial doubles rubber. They lost to Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in five sets. He then went on to win his first singles rubber, after Michał Przysiężny retired five games into the match.

After the media attention attracted during Wimbledon 2015 Kyrgios lost the second rubber of the quarter final tie against Kazakhstan. His most publicized quote during this match was his comment "I don't want to be here". Kyrgios was then replaced by Sam Groth in the reverse singles rubber. He was dumped from the Davis Cup Squad due to play their semi final tie against Great Britain. He returned to the Davis Cup team in September 2016 for Australia's emphatic World Group play-off victory against Slovakia.

Olympics

Kyrgios qualified for his first Olympics at Rio 2016 but withdrew from the event due to differences with the Australian Olympic Committee. However, Kyrgios later revealed he hoped to compete at Tokyo 2020.

Style of play

Kyrgios claims to not fear any opponent, and says he always plays aggressively. Former British number one John Lloyd described watching Kyrgios as a "pleasure" because of "the mixture and the flair", adding that his character is one which attracts fans. According to three-time Wimbledon champion John Newcombe, Kyrgios is an "exceptional talent" and "a real individual". Nine-time Wimbledon doubles champion Todd Woodbridge stated in 2015 that despite Kyrgios' occasionally regrettable words and actions, he would mature over time. He is constantly described as "box office".

Kyrgios' main strength could be considered his serve; usually reaching higher or equal accuracy percentages of 75%. Nonetheless, he also has a tremendous and blasting forehand as well as a very consistent and dangerous backhand. Adding to his skills are an effective slice and an efficient net game. In spite of the fact that his game suits perfectly grass and hard courts (achieving great results in Wimbledon and the Australian Open), he reached his first ATP Tour final, on clay, in Estoril. The Economist has described Kyrgios as "electric-serving" but a "one-dimensional attacking" player.

"Tanking"

At the 2015 Wimbledon Championships, after he failed to return numerous serves, Kyrgios was accused of "tanking" – deliberately not playing up to his abilities – during the second set of his fourth round loss to Richard Gasquet. Kyrgios was booed by the crowd for his perceived lack of effort, but denied the accusations, stating "of course I tried".

He admitted in 2017 that he had "probably" tanked at eight tournaments during his professional career, because on certain days he’d "rather be doing something else than play tennis".

Insulting Stan Wawrinka

During a match at the 2015 Rogers Cup, Kyrgios generated considerable controversy for insults he directed at his opponent, Stan Wawrinka. During a court change, Kyrgios told Wawrinka: "Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend. Sorry to tell you that, mate". Microphones also picked up Kyrgios saying under his breath that Wawrinka, 30, is "banging 18-year-olds". After the match, Wawrinka stated he found the comments "unacceptable" and urged action to be taken against Kyrgios.

Kyrgios was fined $13,127 and given suspended penalties of $32,818 and a 28-day ban, pending further breaches by the ATP, and claimed he apologized to Wawrinka, though this was later denied by Wawrinka himself. Nick's mother, Nill, shut down her Twitter account @nillkyrgios several hours after this incident after personal criticisms were levelled at her. Nill Kyrgios indicated that her son's insults had been made in retaliation. Nill claimed that Wawrinka accused her son of "faking an injury" during a previous match between the two players.

Following a review, the ATP handed down a 28-day suspended sentence, to expire after six months. Kyrgios would also have received a $25,000 fine had he incurred a further fine for "verbal or physical abuse" during that six-month period. At the same tournament he received a $3,281 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct for a comment he made to a ball person.

Shanghai Rolex Masters

In October 2016 Kyrgios was both fined $32,900 (on top of an earlier fine of $21,659 — $13,127 for lack of effort, $6,563 for verbal abuse of a spectator, and $1,969 for unsportsmanlike conduct) and banned for eight weeks for 'lack of best efforts' against unseeded Mischa Zverev in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters. He threw the match 6–3, 6–1, in 48 minutes, at one point asking the umpire, "Can you call time so I can finish this match and go home?"

When later asked during a press conference if he thought he owed the fans a better effort, he responded: "What does that even mean? I'm good at hitting a tennis ball at the net. Big deal. I don't owe them anything. If you don't like it, I didn't ask you to come watch. Just leave."

John McEnroe

American former professional tennis player John McEnroe has voiced his harsh opinion of Kyrgios' behaviour several times. Following his defeat at the hands of Andy Murray at the 2016 Wimbledon championships, McEnroe criticised his temperament, saying "Kyrgios has to look in the mirror if he wants to become a top player and win Slams." He questioned his attitude towards the sport as Kyrgios was reportedly seen watching compatriot Lleyton Hewitt in a doubles match shortly before his match with Murray.

Two months later and following his exit from the US Open, Kyrgios was subject to further criticism from McEnroe. He called on Kyrgios to retire from the sport, saying: "Nick Kyrgios, if you don't want to be a professional tennis player, do something else." The comments came shortly after his third round defeat to Illya Marchenko, where he retired due to a hip injury. McEnroe commented: "He's hurt because he's not training enough."

Interest in tennis

Kyrgios has openly stated that he "does not love tennis" and has a greater interest in basketball. He openly critiqued his dedication to the sport after his exit at the 2017 US Open to fellow Australian John Millman by stating that he is "not dedicated to the game at all" and "There are players out there that are more dedicated, that want to get better, that strive to get better every day, the one-percenters. I'm not that guy."

Other fines

Kyrgios has also been warned and fined for various other instances of inappropriate behaviour. He was given three code violations for audible obscenities and racket-smashing at the 2014 US Open (one more would have disqualified him), fined $4,926 for audible obscenities and racket-smashing at the 2015 Australian Open, fined $12,470 for unsportsmanlike conduct and $2,625 for swearing at 2015 Wimbledon, fined $4,370 for swearing at the 2016 Australian Open (he also took a phone call while on court during a mixed doubles match), fined $6,200 for swearing at the 2016 French Open, and fined $8,690 for swearing at the 2016 Wimbledon.

Endorsements

Kyrgios has endorsement deals with several companies, including Yonex, Nike, and Beats. Bonds distanced itself from Kyrgios during his controversies of 2015. Malaysia Airlines ended their partnership after Kyrgios was suspended and fined for tanking in 2016 Shanghai Rolex Masters.

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

^a Kyrgios received a walkover against Kyle Edmund in the second round. Tournament counts as 1 win and 1 loss for Kyrgios

Records