‘He was unable to control his anxiety’ vs Novak Djokovic: Toni Nadal on Nick Kyrgios’ Wimbledon 2022 final performance

Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios had a successful Wimbledon 2022, reaching the final, the best result he’s had at any Grand Slam in his singles career. He fell at the last stage to Novak Djokovic, who in beating Kyrgios won his fourth consecutive Wimbledon trophy, seventh overall. Where there is little shame in losing to an opponent of that calibre, many felt that the controversial Aussie had the tools and abilities to beat Djokovic. Instead, he lost control of the match, and was downed in four sets by the Serb.

Toni Nadal, the first coach of nephew Rafael and now aligned with highly promising young Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, spoke to El Pais after the Wimbledon final to say that Kyrgios needed to show better awareness of when to play his shots, and better recognition of the situation he finds himself in. He also said that Kyrgios must stop trying to point fingers at others for his failure to match the pace of play.

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“In the decisive moments he was unable to control his anxiety that, again, degenerated into constant rebukes to his team as if they were to blame for the undesired paths the scoreboard was taking for him,” he said.

“The match lacked great brilliance, mainly because there were too many unplayed points. The lack of perseverance of the Australian, especially in regards to maintaining his aggressiveness, revealed the main problem that, in my opinion, his game possesses. He has a bad habit of hitting too many balls in any way, basically without paying attention and in bad position.”

Kyrgios is an attacking player who often tries for the winner early in rallies using his big groundstrokes, but it didn’t work against someone as precise as Djokovic: while he did have 62 winners, he also made 33 unforced errors. Djokovic’s numbers were 46 and 17.

“In today’s tennis, due to the speed at which the ball goes, there is no choice but to look for a good position to have good control. The great players measure their steps well, seek a good position and, from there, try to hit a good shot and increase the chances of victory. Nick Kyrgios, with his messy way of understanding the game, is handicapped not so much by what he does with the ball, but by the way he wants to do it.”

“It is very difficult for him to achieve the continuity that requires scoring points. Tennis is a sport of repetition, rather than the spectacular.”

Kyrgios is certainly a fan-favourite for his powerful, flashy tennis, which relies on big serves, big groundstrokes, and a willingness to go for the lines. This is what Nadal means when he refers to the “spectacular”: Djokovic is quite the opposite, never missing but always putting his opponent on the backfoot throughout the rally.

It was certainly a harsh account of Kyrgios’s performance in the final, but an honest and accurate one, illustrating why the Australian struggled in the final. Nadal did stand up for Kyrgios after his third round match against Stefanos Tsitsipas, but the final lacked that accuracy and precision, allowing Djokovic to take control.

Kyrgios is one of the most contentious, outspoken players in tennis, but it will be interesting to see how he carries forward this performance in the UK as the ATP tour approaches the North American swing and the US Open beginning in August.