According to his own words, Nick Kyrgios wanted to remind everyone that he is still one of the best players in the world and it seems that he succeeded on his mission in 2022.
After the ATP season ended, Kyrgios topped the list of Australian tennis players in both singles and doubles and so there is no doubt about his improvement in 2022 as he climbed up from season low 137th place in the ATP Rankings. During the off-season, he will play a couple of exhibition events and first of those will be in Saudi Arabia at the 2022 Diriyah Tennis Cup.
"I’m very curious to go to a new place,“ said Kyrgios. "I’ve never been before and I’m going with my girlfriend so yeah, we’re very excited to see what it’s about. I’ve got a very close family friend who lives there and he only speaks very highly about Saudi. I’m super excited to get there.”
"Personally, I love going to places where they may not know so much about tennis and going there to try and draw some attention and get them to enjoy it, I think that’s important. When I retire from tennis I want to know that I left a mark and made a lot of new fans of the sport."
Speaking about his 2022 season, which was the most successful in his career so far, the 27-years-old Australian detailed how he changed his mindset that was a key in his success.
“I think before the season started, I was having a conversation with myself that I wanted to kind of reinvent myself on the tour," said Kyrgios. “I feel like the last couple of years with covid and everything that was going on, I really felt like I kind of lost my identity a little bit on the tennis circuit and this year I kind of reminded everyone that I’m still one of the best players in the world and was able to do that on the big stage, obviously Wimbledon, US Open, and I also won a title. I guess I had a little moment with myself at the start."
Speaking about his only Grand Slam singles final appearance, in which he took on the 21-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, he said:
“Going into the Wimbledon final, I couldn’t sleep, I think I had about 2 hours sleep. It was everything I had ever worked for and was taught, everything my family had sacrificed, it was all for that moment. There’s no bigger stage than Wimbledon, I think people that don’t know tennis, they know what Wimbledon is. If you win Wimbledon, you become tennis immortality and I was one match away, two sets away so it was definitely an experience that I’ll never forget. It’s made me hungrier, it’s made me want success more, I learnt a lot.”
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