Nick Kyrgios opened up about his tennis beginnings and how he initially hated the sport.
Kyrgios has a well-documented list of instances where he admitted to not liking tennis. Early on in his career, he was quite adamant about his dislike for tennis, and it annoyed a lot of fans.
He would mention it often, especially when things didn't go that well. In recent years, he grew out of that; well, for the most part, the sincerity of those comments shouldn't be questioned.
He said the same thing recently when talking on the "Good Trouble" podcast, which he hosts. He was overweight as a kid, and his mother wanted him to pick up some healthy habits.
" hated tennis. I grew up very fat, overweight as a kid and my mum saw that and said, "You need to be a bit active." She dragged me down to the tennis courts and got me into tennis. I hated it. I was crying... It was traumatizing to be honest."
Picking up a sport wasn't a problem for Kyrgios. It wasn't about doing a sport that bothered him; it was mostly about tennis. He loved basketball, and even to this day, it's still his favorite sport. He plays it often when he's away from the tennis courts.
"I loved basketball. I loved the culture. I used to sit there watching VCR tapes and CDs of Vince Carter, and Nike Dunks, and I loved everything about basketball, the camaraderie, the teamwork. I kind of want to turn the clock back and follow that NBA dream."
Ending up in tennis wasn't the worst development for Kyrgios because he made it work. He's got some natural talent, which is undeniable, and while the work ethic wasn't always there, he still had a pretty decent career so far.
"I guess my parents pushed me towards that dream of tennis. They love the sport, and in Australia, tennis is huge, it's one of our biggest sports there. I know it's not as big in America, and my parents didn't have much growing up. They saw that I was talented and they saw that as a way of having a better life."
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