This is a rather improbable thing at the start of this London fortnight. On Sunday, Nick Kyrgios will play his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon. The turbulent Australian finds himself automatically qualified after the announcement of Rafael Nadal’s package on Thursday evening. “Different players, different personalities. I hope you recover well and that we will find you back in great shape soon. See you next time,” he wrote in the evening on his Instagram account for the Spaniard.
Even he no longer believed he could reach those heights, after admitting this year that he had had suicidal thoughts, abused drugs and self-harmed during a dark time in his life in 2019. Kyrgios blamed his depression on the relentless pressure from tennis tournaments, away from his family, which often resulted in tantrums and on-court fines.
But today he seems to have found a kind of balance, if we are to believe the words of his mother Norlaila in the Sydney Morning Herald. The latter ensures that her son is finally starting, at 27, to have fun, with his girlfriend Costen Hatzi by his side. “He’s finally enjoying where he is, that’s the best thing about it all,” she said. Before, it was so hard for us to get him to do anything. He was happy to sit in his room and play video games all the time. »
In his room instead of on the Great Wall
One example among others, when the family had followed her for a tournament in Beijing: “We wanted him to walk with us on the Great Wall of China. Who wouldn’t, right? But Nick was wrong. He was happy to be sitting in his room and ordering [des choses à manger], that’s what worried me. Another time, another place. “I remember in Canada we said, ‘Let’s go to Niagara Falls.’ He wasn’t even going there. Nick didn’t want to do those things. Ah, there is such a difference now,” she continues.
“I see him on his stories (Instagram). Since the Australian Open this year (in January), he has started to do certain things. Because he now understands that life doesn’t revolve around tennis. You must enjoy your life. I’m really happy that he’s doing it now, ”concluded the mother, who has been breathing much better for a few months. She will be there on Sunday to see the offspring challenge Novak Djokovic or Cameron Norrie, and perhaps lift the most beautiful trophy of his career.