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Nick Kyrgios has credited four-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka for helping him to deal with his inner demons.
After the Australian produced a clinical display to dispatch Italy’s Fabio Fognini in the third round of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Miami, he once again spoke about the mental struggles he had endured over the past few years.
Wildcard Kyrgios cruised past his veteran opponent 6-2 6-4 in just 61 minutes, to reach the round of 16.
Kyrgios said he had moved on from the dark places in his life and had found a kindred spirit in Osaka, who has blazed a trail on the topic of mental health in sport.
“Naomi kind of pulled the pin at that French Open (in 2021) when she (disclosed she) was dealing with all that negative kind of emotion, and when she just kind of pulled the pin, I related to that,” Kyrgios said.
Osaka withdrew from last year’s French Open after a row with tournament organisers over media duties, explaining that she had been suffering from depression for almost three years.
Her disclosure inspired a number of top athletes to make public their own struggles.
“I felt like I constantly played so much under that mental stress and negativity that I genuinely just couldn’t function anymore with the pressures. I couldn’t function with the negativity,” Kyrgios told reporters in Miami.
“Every day was just constant negativity from you guys, from eventually my family, eventually from my friends, from everyone.
“There was no positivity, and it was just eating me up and I just genuinely hated my life.
“It’s taken a long time, and obviously I’m just towards a point where I’m just happy now… I had to fix it myself.”
Fognini was out of sorts in the opening set, struggling with his movement.
Kyrgios took full advantage taking the set in 28 minutes, breaking in the opening game and again in the seventh.
However, the Italian world No.45 rallied in the second set despite appearing uncomfortable between points, but perfectly fit during play.
The Australian, eight years younger at 26, but ranked 102nd, was frustrated at this inconsistency as the match went with serve to 4-4.
Kyrgios then stepped up a level to break serve before he closed out the victory.
“I wanted to keep the momentum going,” Kyrgios said in his on-court interview.
“As soon as I had break points I wanted to take them.
“I served well and I am happy to be through. I am just returning well.
“My doubles has helped me a lot on my singles court. The way I am serving and returning is quite a sight to see.”
With his victory, Kyrgios has improved to 7-2 on the season, having arrived in Miami on the back of a run to the quarter-finals at Indian Wells.
He will face world No.11 Jannik Sinner or 19th-ranked Pablo Carreno Busta for a spot in the quarter-finals.
British commentator and former Wimbledon finalist Tim Henman said of Kyrgios: “It was a really great performance, not only was his tennis of a really high standard I thought mentally he kept his composure really well.
“It was mature, professional, calculated. He’ll be extremely pleased with his progress so far.”
Thanasi Kokkinakis will play American Denis Kudla in a bid to join his good friend and doubles partner in the round of 16 at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
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