Nick Kyrgios is not everybody’s cup of tea, but few can deny his presence generates attention.
After all, the Australian is arguably the most controversial figure within the sport, laden with unbridled talent, but plagued by inconsistency and fitness issues.
The latter have been particularly volatile across the last few years, but at last, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel.
Kyrgios revealed his plans to play at the 2025 Australian Open, marking his return to Grand Slam action following a horrific wrist injury.
However, before then, he remains eager to tell his side of the story that has made him into tennis’ chief “bad boy”.
Speaking on the Louis Theroux podcast recently, he addressed many of the scandals that have followed him throughout his impressive tennis career.
Naturally, there were many to pick from, given the 29-year-old has never been afraid to speak his mind.
However, despite all the hate and vitriol he receives, there is one thing he routinely hears which is just plain wrong.
Now, Nick Kyrgios has set the record straight: ‘To say that I have under-achieved is insanity because I know what I have gone through in my life and where I have come from and just sitting in this room from Canberra, Australia. The fact that someone has sat here and played in front of the royal family, to me that is not an underachievement at all.
‘What I have done in my career and what I have achieved as a person and how I have bounced back from all the negative that I have dealt and turned it into a positive and being able to help people now. I can give advice to young kids which come up and young fans, I look at that as the biggest overachievement that any athlete can give back.
‘As for the temperament thing I think any 19-year-old who got thrown into the deep end with the amount of negativity on social media would have dealt with it in a similar way. I definitely could have gone through it a little smoother, I was reluctant to get help and deal with it, so I prolonged the process of maturing as I was under the spotlight so much.
‘But there is no shame in not winning a Grand Slam because 99% of tennis players do not win a singles Grand Slam. Andy Murray, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, playing in their prime they occupied a lot of the grand slams and I have beaten them all as well.’
At his very best, Kyrgios has been able to conquer almost everyone on tour.
After all, he boasts a unique record of beating all of the Big Three in their first match-ups, having overcome Rafael Nadal on three occasions, Roger Federer once, and Novak Djokovic twice.
But, with two of that legendary trio now gone, and the latter having seen a notable decline in his form and fitness, there could be an opening for Kyrgios to re-emerge.
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will certainly have something to say about that, but arguably neither of them can really compete with the aforementioned three in their prime.
If Kyrgios can get fit and find some consistency, he could make a splash on his return to the ATP tour.
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