I don’t know what goes on inside Nick Kyrgios’ mind, but from what I’ve seen of late, he is the same player he has always been, but now has the experience to deal with that.
Kyrgios will always be his own harshest critic and, despite his protestations to the contrary, he does care about tennis and about winning.
He has a fiery temperament, and while that may sap away some of his energy and focus, it will be essential to his future.
Kyrgios seems to lack motivation when playing only for himself, so while blaming his players box for not standing up after a point may look childish and unprofessional, it seems that he is trying to turn this most individual of sports into a team game.
He is playing for those in his box, and he expects them to support him in the same way.
One thing that is not in question is that Kyrgios has learnt how to lose. Last year, after basically abandoning the game in his loss to Andreas Seppi, Kyrgios was booed off the court. This year, he fought to the end, even breaking Grigor Dimitrov when he was serving for the match, forcing a tie break. This year he was cheered.
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The greatest players are the ones who fight until the end, even when they appear to be outclassed. Lleyton Hewitt was a prime example – he was never the most skilled player, but he could fight and that got him wins above what his skill alone would allow.
Kyrgios has more skill than many players on the tour, and he does things that few others would attempt. Sending down clutch second-serve aces, at speeds near his first serve, unnecessary tweeners, and a variety of other shot selections that no other player would attempt, make him difficult to get a read on. If he is now prepared to go down fighting, he will become an even more difficult opponent.
Making an effort and fighting just to end up losing is hard. It’s much easier to let your head drop and lose, that way you can claim to not care about the result, or say that you could have won if you’d actually tried.
But if you try and then lose, there is no hiding – you were simply not good enough on the day. To face up to this and overcome it is the point where you can find greatness.
This is where Nick Kyrgios is right now, on the verge of greatness. He is a player who will win multiple Grand Slams, the only question that remains is when.
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