21-year-old Nick Kyrgios suffered a fourth-round defeat at the hands of second seed Andy Murray at Wimbledon yesterday, going down to the Scot in a straight sets loss.
The last Australian in the men’s singles, Kyrgios managed a decent first set performance despite Murray taking it 7-5, but completely lost momentum afterwards, crumbling 1-6, 4-6 as Murray blazed into the quarterfinals.
Kyrgios described himself as “poor and pathetic” following the loss, saying he “just lost belief” afterwards. Murray has been responsible for Kyrgios’ exit from the Australian, French and US Opens in 2015, and although most expected the Scot to win, not many believed it would be this easy for the title favourite.
Murray’s rout of his young rival took an hour and 39 minutes, with former World No. 1 John McEnroe describing the manner of Kyrgios’ loss as a “damn shame.”
"I'm hoping he sees the writing on the wall before this becomes chronic, irreparable, because to me it's getting to that point,” McEnroe said.
Murray himself suggested that Kyrgios seek the service of a mental health specialist;
"It's about finding the right people to help you with different things," he said in reference to Kyrgios. "For some, it may be a coach. For some, it might be a psychologist. Sometimes it might be speaking to family about stuff. There's not one way of tackling it.”
Kyrgios was also involved in a Twitter spat with TV personality Piers Morgan following his loss. The Briton described the player as a “petulant little brat” on social media, suggesting Kyrgios “put his toys back in his pram.” Tthe 21-year-old responding with a profane suggestion to Morgan.
That exchange prompted Australian spin great Shane Warne to respond on Twitter, describing his compatriot’s match with Murray as a ‘mismatch in class’ all around.
Warne has previously described Kyrgios as a ‘waste of talent’ and like many others has suggested the young player get help on and off the court.
Kyrgios himself admitted he had been down on motivation, and was not sure if he ‘loved tennis’ or not. “At times, like I’ve previously said, I don’t love the sport,” Kyrgios said. “But, you know, I don’t really know what else to do without it. I obviously like playing the game. It’s a massive part of my life,” he told reporters following the loss.
