Nick Kyrgios after Australian Open loss: "I feel like I've made progress as a human"
Nick Kyrgios offered Rafael Nadal a big fight in the Australian Open round of 16 - partly because he was thinking about Kobe Bryant in the meantime.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Jan 27, 2020, 04:22 pm
Nick Kyrgios also appeared in the Lakers jersey for the press conference. Rafael Nadal had already played for the match in the round of 16 of the Australian Open in an appropriate jersey - in memory of basketball star Kobe Bryant, who died that night .
As for the entire sports world, the death of the All-Star player and his daughter was hard to believe for basketball fan Kyrgios. "I never met Kobe. But basketball is practically my life. I watch it every day.I've been following it for as long as I can remember. When I woke up to the news, it was pretty emotional.It was pretty heavy, like, all day. Obviously I washaving basketball on at my house, watching the games. I was heavy. Yeah, it's just tough."
"I thought of him and fought me back"
All of this did not affect him emotionally during the Nadal match. "If anything, it motivatedme. If you look at the things he stood for, what hewanted to be remembered by, I felt like, if anything, it helped me tonight. When I was down a break in thefourth, I was definitely thinking about it. I fought back."
He himself is a fan of the Celtics. "When Isaw Kobe do what he does, break the hearts of somany Celtics fans, it was tough to see.I don't think they make them like him any more. Hewas different, the way he trained, the way he didthings, the way he played. He was special. Just sad. Like, when I think about my life is literallybasketball. When I think about it, it's heavy. It's tough."
Nadal and Kyrgios get closer
Regardless of what happened last night, however, Kyrgios seems to be on the mend about his behavior. It was he who started the fundraiser for the victims of the bushfires , and Kyrgios also played for it in the Australian summer.
Opponent Nadal also saw a "different" Kyrgios on the opposite side. "If he plays like he does today, with this positive attitude, he gives the sport good things. I like the Nick Kyrgios we saw during this tournament," he said after the game. Striking: After a spectacular winner from Nadal, both had brief eye contact - and couldn't help but smile. Considering what happened at the Wimbledon 2019 tournament, a big step forward . The handshake after the game was also significantly longer than usual.
Kyrgios: "Will continue in this direction"
Kyrgios also confirmed his change. "I feel like I've made progressas a human. A tennis player, I don't really care aboutas much." But he felt good, Kyrgios continued to say. "Obviously, today was horrendous, like the news. But I want tokeep going in this direction, for sure."
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