Andy Murray has urged Australians to lay off Nick Kyrgios – and the 19-year-old hopes his compatriots heed the advice.
Kyrgios shot to fame with a shock victory over Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon last year, to reach the quarter-finals.
Over the past week, Kyrgios’s status as the green-and-golden boy of Australian tennis has been enhanced with a run to the last eight at Melbourne Park.
Everything from his serve to lippy on-court antics has been picked part, something Murray knows all too well.
Murray, who carried the weight of Britain before ending its 77-year wait for a men’s Wimbledon champion in 2013, hoped Kyrgios wouldn’t endure the same suffocating expectations and scrutiny.
“Try not to put too much pressure on him,” Murray said after his 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 quarter-final defeat of the teenager on Tuesday night.
“He needs to be allowed to mature and develop. He’s going to make some mistakes.
“He’s young and growing up in the spotlight isn’t easy. He’s doing a great job.”
When told of Murray’s comments, Kyrgios could only agree.
“Just listen to Andy, I guess. He’s pretty successful,” Kyrgios said.
“Yeah (there has been pressure) but I thought I dealt with it really well this week.”
Kyrgios conceded the hype and excitement had been hard to dismiss over the past few days.
“Not getting much sleep obviously,” he said.
“It’s been a lot of fun, but at the same it’s been pretty stressful.
“I’ve enjoyed it. I’m just happy that I got as far as I did.”
Murray, speaking in his post-match press conference, added Kyrgios was a “good person”.
“He’s nice. He’s always been polite and respectful,” the Scot said.
“He applauds good shots .. good serves.
“He gets frustrated with himself and sometimes says things he shouldn’t, but everyone has done that in some way when they’re 19.
“It just happens that when he does it. It’s in front of a large audience and it gets picked up.”
Murray reminded success-starved tennis fans at Rod Laver Arena that not many people had matched Kyrgios’s achievements at his age.
“To make two quarter-finals in the slams as a teenager is very rare,” Murray said.
“He’s done great and he’ll continue to get better.”
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