US Open: Nick Kyrgios - "The ranking means nothing"
Nick Kyrgios bowled world number one Daniil Medvedev out of the tournament at the US Open. The 27-year-old sees his success as further confirmation of how little the world rankings say in their current form.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit:
Sep 05, 2022, 03:07 pm
Nick Kyrgios has done it again. For the 27th time in his career, the Australian has brought down a man from the top 10, for the 27th time in his career Kyrgios has defeated a player who managed a feat that put the world number 25. has so far been denied: namely to move into the top ten players in the ATP world rankings.
Accordingly, the Australian - despite all the joy about Medvedev's success - used the press conference after the round of 16 to express his displeasure with the current ranking system: "The ranking system doesn't reward ability and form, to be honest, it does only for a certain period of time," explains the man from Canberra. "It rewards consistency more than anything. I've only played 12 tournaments this season, some of my competitors have played 32."
Kyrgios does not attach importance to ranking
Accordingly, it is almost impossible for him to stand in front of these players. "The ranking is not important to me, that's the message I hope I conveyed tonight," said Kyrgios after his four-set win over Medvedev. "People have seen the No. 1 play No. 23, that's all. I don't care if I'm seeded or not, the ranking means nothing."
The Australian was more satisfied with his playful performance than with his standing in the world rankings, and with his current form in general: "I think I've improved some of my weaknesses," said Kyrgios. "I really thought about what I need to improve at the beginning of the year and I worked very hard on it. Today I'm better than the player who was No. 13 in the world."
Kyrgios: "Motivation skyrocketed"
The key to the current high: consistency - and the experience from Wimbledon: "I used to experience too many ups and downs, I was exhausted. Now I recognize the process it takes to win the final of a Grand Slam tournament achieve," says Kyrgios, who seems to have come to terms with the years of listlessness. "During the years I was struggling with my psyche, I was very selfish, I always felt bad, I didn't want to play. Then I started looking at the people around me who were close to me and I saw how much I let her down."
Months of hard work followed - which now slowly but surely seems to be paying off: "I saw that I still had a lot to give to the sport, so I started training hard. I decided to improve my fitness first and see how it's going," explained Kyrgios. "This year I've started to win a lot, the motivation has skyrocketed so it's easier to train and wake up every morning when things are going well."
nycmap