You wouldn’t know Nick Kyrgios is getting sued based on his Instagram page. While a Wimbledon fan he accused of being drunk was preparing her legal papers, the subject of her litigation was cruising around Manhattan in a rickshaw, a Book of Mormon program in hand, grooving to beats, enjoying the Times Square tourist jaunt. “LUV NY,” he captioned the video.
Start spreading the news, he’s leaving today. Kyrgios is in New York and everyone is watching. Rarely does the Australian not command international attention, but perhaps never has there been so much of it as now, in the week before the US Open begins. On the court he is a Wimbledon finalist with the potential to win his first grand slam. A slouching, sauntering vessel of expectation whose game has hit its rapscallion best. Off it, he is distracted on two different fronts.
On Tuesday, the woman Kyrgios claimed “had about 700 drinks, bro” and had distracted him during his Wimbledon final loss to Novak Djokovic said she had decided to bring defamation proceedings against him over his “entirely baseless” comments about her to the chair umpire. It came hours after his lawyer attended a court hearing on his behalf in Canberra after he was summoned to appear to face a charge of assaulting his former girlfriend.
About 16,000km away, Kyrgios appears insouciant. Doing his thing, seemingly immune to the noise. Classic Kyrgios. What is he thinking? Is he worried? Indifferent? Even if he tells us, we probably won’t have the answer until he gets on the court, where each brilliant serve and unbeatable winner and every blazing blow-up says more than any words could.
Kyrgios has capitalised on a funny year in tennis. In the past six months the 27-year-old has climbed from a world singles ranking of 137th to 26th, playing his way through Europe, UK, US and Canada and beating the world No 1, Daniil Medvedev, in the latter.
His first major final, in London, was the product of compelling performances by anyone’s standards, another confirmation of what his talent is capable of. The talent bit was never in dispute. As ever, with Kyrgios, it is the question of whether he will continue to use it to its full potential.
Was that fortnight to be the start of something big? Would he now be a contender at every grand slam? Or would it prove a mirage? As it stands, Kyrgios has never made it past the third round of the US Open. The last time he got that far was 2019, before Covid hit and he took a break from the international circuit.
This time, unlike the glorified exhibition tournament that was Wimbledon 2022, he will be playing for rankings points. And this time, also unlike London’s mild-mannered All England Club set (the tabloid press aside), he will do so in front of the baying mob at Flushing Meadows, in the city that never sleeps. If he can make it there, he’ll make it anywhere.
He is at least seeded. That appeared unlikely after Wimbledon, when he fell from world No 40 to 45 despite reaching the final because of the ATP’s and WTA’s decision to strip the tournament of its rankings status. But his hard work on the court in recent months means he enters the US Open seeded 23rd, meaning he plays a lower-ranked opponent in the first round.
That his opponent just happens to be his good friend and grand slam-winning doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis only ensures the spotlight will be turned on from the outset at Flushing Meadows. Box office from the word go – it would not be any other way with Kyrgios.
“It was a goal, more so I didn’t get one of the big titans or gods first round,” Kyrgios said this month after defeating the Australian No 1, Alex de Minaur, in Canada. “I can actually work my way into the draw if the draw’s kind. But look, I always feel my game is right there no matter who I play.”
At the end of the day, Kyrgios may be at the mercy of his own body. With last week’s resounding straight-sets Cincinnati Masters loss to American Taylor Fritz emerged a knee injury, suggesting the strain of a busy calendar – also featuring a heavy doubles schedule – is catching up.
“You can hear the boos around the stadium,” said Greg Rusedski, a former US Open finalist and world No 4. “They don’t feel like he gave it his best effort out there and we’re hoping the knee isn’t too serious, but he’s got to show more. He’s improved out of sight but physically he’s got to get stronger.
“You’re worried about the knee physically. It’s a lot easier to do on grass courts than hard courts.”
But hard courts it will be. In a fortnight Kyrgios could be king of the hill, top of the heap – a US Open champion. Or he could bow out in round one. Good luck predicting which.
