Australian tennis legend Rod Laver believes Nick Kyrgios‘ changed mentality has been “the greatest thing that happened to him” and claimed the fiery star “has all the ability in the world”.
Kyrgios’ career has been blighted with a string of controversies and fines resulting from his on-court behaviour that fell foul of the rules.
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However, the Canberran looked to have turned a corner and aligned his vast potential with matching results this year.
Kyrgios made the Wimbledon final and knocked world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev out of the US Open as the world finally got to see just what the 27-year-old can do on the court.
Laver, a tennis legend who is the only player to have won a calendar grand slam twice, stated in 2019 after yet another Kyrgios meltdown that he didn’t think “Nick will ever learn”.
However, the Australian great changed his tune in the wake of Kyrgios’ shock run to the Wimbledon final and has a notably more positive outlook on the mercurial star’s future grand slam hopes.
“Kyrgios has all the ability in the world, every shot that you could wish to make,” Laver told The Telegraph.
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“He’s probably one of the biggest servers in the game. He’s accurate, he can play under pressure.
“I was thrilled when he reached the final, but he didn’t think he could win Wimbledon. In my mind, I said, ‘Hey, put in your best performance. You may surprise yourself.’
“A month or two later, I said, ‘You can win some of these matches. Why don’t you apply yourself, man?’
Laver felt that their conversation “hit home” for Kyrgios, as the world No. 20 appears to have had an epiphany that could drive him on to bigger and better.
“He realised, ‘S***, I am good enough, I can do this,’” Laver said.
“That was the greatest thing that happened to him. Unfortunately, he said that he wanted to go back to Australia and not play in the Laver Cup.
“But he knows that he can play and compete now. Don’t walk on the court thinking, ‘If I get three games, that’s enough.’
“Now he’s thinking, ‘Next year? Wimbledon? You’re going to see a different player.’”
