Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios does not require a coach but someone like Sigmund Freud to sort out his problems as tennis needs the Australian maverick, seven-time major winner John McEnroe said.
The 27-year-old Kyrgios was beaten by Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final on Sunday but not before he had left his mark on the grasscourt major where he delighted fans with his immense talent but also frustrated them with his temperament.“I get a lot of what’s going on here more than most people,” the 63-year-old McEnroe, who was no stranger to petulance on the court during his playing days, told the BBC.
“He’s a good kid, the players like him, he’s well-liked in the locker room, he does a lot of charity work. But he’s got demons — we all have this fear of failure and it’s a question of how you best deal with it.”Three-time Wimbledon winner McEnroe, nicknamed“Superbrat” before becoming a respected analyst, said that he was amazed by Kyrgios’ talent but added that he needed help from someone like psychoanalysis founder Freud to help. “It’s unbelievable so he moves the needle for us in tennis. We need this big time, but we don’t need him to try half time,” McEnroe said.
“Who should coach NickKyrgios? John McEnroe of course but he’s untouchable. The guy doesn’t need the coach, the guy is a genius the way he plays. He needs Sig-mund Freud to come out of the grave and somehow figure out a way to keep this guy going for a couple of years because could use him.“... He’s obviously tortured in certain ways. Unbelievably talented, smart. Hell of a player when he wants to be and so you want to nurture that in a way as an ex-player, as a father, as a fan, as a commentator, so I can relate a lot.”
McEnroe added: “I think just trying to deal with his nerves and that fear of failure that we all have. His way of dealing with it is obviously different than others. What happens, unfortunately, when you’re wound up and freaking out, is you take it out on someone closest to you. The irony of it is he’s taking it out on the people that love him the most in the players’ box. So, that's tough to watch.”McEnroe, of course, was more inclined to take it out on himself and the opponent and line judges and any chairs or objects in his general vicinity than loved ones on the court. He was hoping for more loved ones.
“For me, I didn’t want to be booed, I wanted people to be cheering me. It did make me remember though, once my dad was in the crowd, clapping and mouthing: ‘You can do it's on, you can do it’.
“I remember muttering an expletive under my breath and saying ‘Who the hell are you sitting on your ass, telling me what to do’. He came up to me straight after the match and said ‘did you say that to me?’
”McEnroe had to think on his feet. “I said ‘no, no there was some jerk above you’. It wasn’t like I was screaming like Nick. But it was uncalled for, let’s just say that.”
“For the most part, when I’d lose it, I was able to get my concentration back pretty quickly. That’s what actually bothered players. With Nick, it’s hard to tell right now,” he's ays.
“Sometimes it doesn’t look like he’s trying.” He added: “I would have never had the guts to try the between the legs shots and all the other crazy stuff that he does. I was doing the commentary watching him and I was literally laughing. I was saying: ‘I can’t believe he’s trying this in a Wimbledon final.’ It's amazing.”
