{"id":297152,"date":"2023-12-17T09:24:27","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T09:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=297152"},"modified":"2023-12-17T09:24:27","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T09:24:27","slug":"my-mum-dragged-me-to-the-tennis-court-and-then-i-beat-federer-nadal-and-novak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/tennis\/my-mum-dragged-me-to-the-tennis-court-and-then-i-beat-federer-nadal-and-novak\/","title":{"rendered":"‘My mum dragged me to the tennis court and then I beat Federer, Nadal and Novak’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Nick Kyrgios was overweight can had to be coerced into playing tennis and getting fit before the Australian became one of the world’s best tennis players. The outspoken 28-year-old has been lifting the lid on his childhood and introduction to the courts, which did not suggest that he would be starting on the road to becoming a millionaire sportsman who would eventually beat the world’s best players.<\/p>\n

Appearing on the podcast ‘On Purpose with Jay Shetty’, the 2022 Wimbledon finalist revealed that it was the persistence of his mother that finally put him on the road to success, coupled with an eagle-eyed coach who recognised that he had some talent.<\/p>\n

Kyrgios said: “Well, I hated tennis when I was young. So, you know, I was very chubby, overweight as a kid. And my mom , she was like, okay, we’ve got to get you doing some sport or be active. So she dragged me down to the local tennis courts. And I remember I was crying all day, hated it. Didn’t want to be there anyway.<\/p>\n

“I gave it a chance for like, a couple of weeks, couple of months. And the coach was like, ‘Oh, he’s picking it up pretty quickly’. And then that was, I guess that was a defining moment because ever since that coach said that it’s like my father and my mom put everything into it.<\/p>\n

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“They sacrificed, you know, my dad and my mom had nothing growing up. And I guess they saw me as the person in the family to eventually try and make it and help them out and help the family out.”<\/p>\n

At the age of 16, he received a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport before appearing in his first grand slam at the French Open in 2013. In 2014, he became the first male debutant to reach the quarterfinals of Wimbledon since Florian Mayer when he beat Rafael Nadal in four sets.<\/p>\n

The Aussie clearly had an interest in defeating all-time greats as at the Madrid Open in 2015, he beat 20-time grand slam champion Roger Federer in the second round. At the Mexican Open in 2017, Kyrgios saw off reigning world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

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