Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has received stunning praise from American tennis legend John McEnroe following his opening round victory at Wimbledon.
The 16th seed bested Uzbekistanian Denis Istomin in four sets 7-6 (3) 7-6 (4) 6-7 (5) 6-3 on Wednesday morning (AEST) in what was a classic Kyrgios performance that mixed unparalleled skill with unnecessary on-court antics.
Kyrgios' serve has become one of the most dangerous on the men's circuit, and his biggest weapon didn't let him down in the first-round as he sent down a ridiculous 42 aces against his world No.92 ranked opponent.
While Kyrgios himself admitted he didn't play his best, his performance was good enough to warrant flattery from a seven-time Grand Slam winner.
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"Nick to me is the most talented tennis player of the last 10 years I’ve seen, since (Novak) Djokovic, (Andy) Murray, (Rafael) Nadal, (Roger) Federer," McEnroe said in a press conference.
"He’s an incredible talent. Certainly, he’s one of the most dangerous guys. He’d be one of the six, eight guys. I don’t know what his physical condition is at this point. He didn’t play any of the clay court events."
Kyrgios will face Dutchman Robin Haase in the second-round but admits, even though he is mentally in a great spot, he will need to pick up his play if he intends to make his way deep into the second week of the most prestigious Grand Slam.
“(It was a) very tough match, I didn’t play anywhere near my best tennis today,” the Aussie said post-match
"I guess I'm in kind of, like, a happy place. I feel like I'm playing well. I mean, I have a different approach. I feel like I'm one of the guys that can cause a bit of an uproar at this event.
"We'll see how it goes."
One of the greatest tennis players of all-time, Chrissie Evert, believes that until Kyrgios completely gets his head screwed on right, the 23-year-old won't reach his potential.
"He missed out on a lot of the hard court ones. My guess would be it would be tough considering mentally and physically for him to be able to go all the way." Evert said.
"He is his own person. We can just stand by and marvel at his talent, appreciate the big wins, but expect the big losses, too. This is his temperament. I don’t know how much you can teach, again, hunger and focus and commitment.
"I mean, you can encourage it, but until it gets into his persona until it gets into his conscience and his heart, we’re not going to see the best of Nick Kyrgios. It’s just the way he is. Again, it’s very often that the most talented players, when things come very easy to them, sometimes mentally they’re not as tough because they don’t have to be.
"It’s the grinders that have to work harder that are sometimes mentally tougher. He’s got to find that desire and that hunger inside himself."
