More hit than miss: Kyrgios’ delicate balancing act

Like in the 24-point first set tiebreaker, thrice in which he flung and smashed his racquet. Yet Kyrgios held himself together to save three set points and seize the fourth of this own.

Like at 30-30 in the second game of the third set, where he found the most absurd way of losing a point he had won. Kyrgios jogged over to Medvedev’s side of the court and needlessly hit a floating aerial volley that was nowhere close to crossing the net. Medvedev, awarded the point, then held serve. Flummoxed yet not ruffled, Kyrgios shrugged it off to get that break at the next time of asking.

Like in the fourth game of the fourth set where facing a break point soon after penetrating the Medvedev serve once more, Kyrgios was given a warning for language in a verbal barrage to his box. Medvedev, shrewdly adding to the theatre, gestured to the crowd to get louder. Unperturbed, Kyrgios shut the little opening with an ace, never to allow Medvedev a look-in again.

These little moments pointed to the eccentric Australian walking the tightrope that would, over the years, tend to push him over the edge. On Sunday night at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, Kyrgios pulled through, professionally and emphatically. The 27-year-old knocked out the defending champion 7-6(13), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the fourth round for his first-ever quarter-final slot at Flushing Meadows.

Add that to the CV of New Nick, a more consistent and calm version of his talented self. The old Kyrgios in full flow was shock and awe though frustratingly hit-and-miss. The 2022 Kyrgios in full flow is sublime and awesome, more hit than miss.

Not just in the odd matches but a patch of tournaments. It took off with three consecutive semi-final shows from April to June in ATP events across Houston, Stuttgart and Halle and landed at the final of Wimbledon and the title of Washington in the following outing.

The Aussie lost to Novak Djokovic in four tight sets in the Wimbledon final but the grass-court Grand Slam proved what many kept emphasizing: if Kyrgios is in the mood for more tennis than tomfoolery, tennis can do as much of the talking. Irrespective of the name and reputation on the other side; this season alone, the world No 25 has twice beaten Medvedev (Kyrgios also got past the Russian in Montreal last month) and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Kyrgios said he doesn’t exactly know where the springboard to this season’s leap has come from. However, he is certain about one thing. “I was just sick of letting people down,” he said, referring to his team, family and girlfriend.

“I just feel like I’m playing for a lot more than just myself… I’ve got a lot of motivation right now.

“Mentally I’ve struggled so hard in the first 6-7 years of my career—I didn’t know how to deal with things. It was just unhealthy. But I’ve realised it was a learning process. I’ve matured so much, learnt to embrace it all.”

Process, mature, embrace—not the kind of words you’d associate with the once world No 13 never to have gone beyond the quarter-final of a Slam before this year. Once Kyrgios the person got into the right mental space, Kyrgios the player was always around to blend in.

“I anaylsed what I had to get better at the start of the year and worked really hard,” he said. “But whether or not I’m that player who was once 13 in the world? I think I am. I’m better than that.”

In a more consistently steady form. The flashes of brilliance coupled with drastic dips have made way for a larger spread of quality play. The match against Medvedev was less about the Russian losing—he had just 19 unforced errors—and more about the Aussie winning. Kyrgios’s serving was strong (85 of 120 first serves in) and the variety apparent (62% net points won) in offsetting Medvedev’s strengths from the baseline.

And save a minor double faults-littered blip in the second set after a high-quality first, Kyrgios remained aggressively solid throughout. “I played the right way. Third and fourth set I was so free, just having a lot of fun,” he said.

That’s hardly been the case for the firebrand Aussie in New York, where he’s been only as far as the third round but will now face Karen Khachanov for a place in the semi-finals. “I’m just glad that I am finally able to show New York my talent,” Kyrgios said in court. “… finally, it took me 27 years!”

Why, though, was it important for tennis’ spotlight-hogging showman to do that?

“Obviously, there’s the controversies, the flair, this and that,” Kyrgios said later. “But there’s the discipline, the hard work intertwined with that as well. This time around, I’ve been able to showcase that.”