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Kyrgios is not the hero we want, but the hero we need

Nick Kyrgios is through to the second round at the Aussie Open. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta-Journal Constitution via AP)
Roar Guru
31st March, 2017
27

I’m writing this as Nick Kyrgios battles away against another future great, Alexander Zverev, in the quarter-finals of the Miami Masters. You wouldn’t know it, though.

Kyrgios has, by my count, hit five trick shots thus far, one of them set-point down in the second set tiebreaker.

It’s unprofessional, it’s anti-Hewitt, but god it’s entertaining. I can’t stop watching him.

Mercurial is an understatement. No matter how well he is playing, or how badly he is crushing his opponent, the fuse remains short and within reach of his explosive temper.

For raw talent you cannot get a better specimen; he is Federer’s equal.

But where Federer has refined his game, sanding the rough edges away to reveal the smooth Swiss-timepiece his game ticks along to, Kyrgios remains a monstrous, jarring juggernaut overpowered by only his own emotions. Refusing to train, unshackled pathos, he plays and talks in the moment – anything can come out.

Where there is no love, there is no fear, and it is from this barren place Kyrgios’ talent reveals itself. It is very, very difficult to hit the shots that he does, in the moments which he hits them (which is, literally, any point at all) unless there is a total lack of care for the outcome. Loose.

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Tennis is a game for him, it’s not a love, it’s not some anxiety-driven passion like it may be for Nadal. The Miami Masters is a hit-and-giggle. Wimbledon, is a hit-and-giggle. 99.9 per cent of top players experience tension, nerves and anxiety in the big moments, the tiebreakers, the fifth sets. Kyrgios couldn’t give a rats, and that’s the great part.

Federer, despite his talent and mental fortitude, still experiences tension – we see it in the way he plays big points, a little more percentage based – but Kyrgios? Second serve down break point there’s a very good chance he will just try and ace you. Swing, bang, deuce, thanks. If he double faults? ‘Pfft, I don’t care’.

It’s not only the playing style, it’s the personality – the shock factor. The comments and racquet breaks, the arguments with umpires and tanking of matches. This is just as entertaining. Sure, the purists don’t like it, but who doesn’t slow down when you drive past some open domestic in your neighbourhood?–drama is addictive.

Drama is entertaining and sport is entertainment first and foremost.

Do we want players to be good role models for children? Absolutely, but we have plenty of them in tennis, just look at pretty much every other guy that’s not Kyrgios. It’s ridiculous to assume every guy that swings a racquet well is going to be your model citizen. Good behaviour and talent is not a recipe for sporting greatness, that’s for sponsorship.

Kyrgios is something tennis has needed for ten years. We lost Goran Ivanisevic, we lost Marat Safin, we lost Fernando Gonzalez, and Andy Roddick. We need characters. Villains, jokers, goody two shoes and heroes. A mixed bag will cast a wider net and ultimately bring more people into the sport.

To have your top guys all tow the line into the PR machine is probably nice for Mercedes-Benz and Rolex’s old white men, but kids today are exposed to more sports and more distractions than ever before – Kyrgios’ X factor is a blessing tennis won’t recognise until he is gone.

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Tomorrow he takes on Federer, as he has just defeated Zverev in a typically seesawing affair of trick shots, aces, jaw-dropping forehands and drop shots. Oh, and he argued for no reason with a poor old line judge. Shocking!

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