Before facing Tsitsipas: Kyrgios, terror of the big guys, really? In Grand Slam, it’s another story

Since his feat against Nadal, nothing or almost nothing

And yet, one thing is clear: in Grand Slams, the big cat Nick turns into a little mouse in the results. Since his feat against Nadal eight years ago, he has almost systematically lost: in 13 tries against players ranked in the top ten, he has won only once (1-12). As proof, here is the list:

• Defeat against Milos Raonic (9th) in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon 2014 (6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6)
• Defeat against Andy Murray (6th) in the quarter of the Australian Open 2015 (6-3, 7-6, 6-3)
• Defeat against Andy Murray (3rd) in the 3rd round of Roland-Garros 2015 (6-4, 6-2, 6-3)
• Victory against Milos Raonic (8th) in the 3rd round of Wimbledon 2015 (5-7, 7-5, 7-6, 6-3)
• Defeat against Andy Murray (3rd) in the 1st round of the US Open 2015 (7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1)
• Defeat against Tomas Berdych (6th) in the 3rd round of the 2016 Australian Open (6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4)
• Defeat against Andy Murray (2nd) in the round of 16 of Wimbledon 2016 (7-5, 6-1, 6-4)
• Defeat against Grigor Dimitrov (3rd) in the round of 16 of the 2018 Australian Open (7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6)
• Defeat against Roger Federer (2nd) in the 3rd round of the US Open 2018 (6-4, 6-1, 7-5)
• Defeat against Rafael Nadal (2nd) in the 2nd round of Wimbledon 2019 (6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6)
• Defeat against Rafael Nadal (1st) in the round of 16 of the Australian Open 2020 (6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6)
• Defeat against Dominic Thiem (3rd) in the 3rd round of the Australian Open 2021 (4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4)
• Loss against Daniil Medvedev (2nd) in the 2nd round of the Australian Open 2022 (7-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2)

To qualify the picture, one thing is clear: seven of his twelve defeats, or more than half, have come against members of the former “Big 4”: four against Murray, two against Nadal and one against Roger Federer. And Kyrgios does not usurp his reputation as a player apart, he is undeniably scary. In the current Top 10, there are only three to lead in their record against the Australian: Nadal, Félix Auger-Aliassime and Hubert Hurkacz.

The long format exposes its physical limits

However, unquestionably, something is at play on the long format. In Grand Slam, Kyrgios does not lead against any of the members of this famous Top 10:

• 2-1 against Medvedev (but 0-1 in Grand Slam)
• 4-3 v Zverev (no Grand Slam matchups)
• 2-0 against Djokovic (no Grand Slam matchups)
• 3-6 against Nadal (1-2 in Grand Slam)
• 3-1 against Tsitsipas (no Grand Slam matchups)
• 1-1 v Ruud (no Grand Slam matchups)
• No confrontation against Alcaraz
• 2-1 against Rublev (0-1 in Grand Slam)
• 0-2 against Auger-Aliassime (0-1 in Grand Slam)
• 0-1 v Hurkacz (no Grand Slam matchups)

And the Australian’s level of play is not in question. In these last four defeats against cadors in Majors – against Nadal at Wimbledon 2019 then the Australian Open 2020, against Thiem at the Australian Open 2021 and against Daniil Medvedev still in Melbourne in 2022 -, Kyrgios has unquestionably lived up to the opposition, even playing as equals with the big guys on the circuit in sequences. But that’s the whole point: it fails to maintain the necessary quality and intensity from the first point to the last.

Faced with Thiem in particular, he had led two sets to nothing, inflamed the Australian public before giving in, short of legs. It is undoubtedly from this point of view that his lack of professionalism costs him the most. Kyrgios has also decided to put the double aside before this 3rd round of Wimbledon against Tsitsipas for this reason. “I’m a singles player and that has always been my priority. I made a quarter-final here, I won singles titles. Simple is my priority, without a doubt. And I played four hours for my first round (3h05 in fact, editor’s note), which is too much for me. I do what’s best for my body“, he confessed in a press conference.

A good preparation to reverse the trend against Tsitsipas

Winner in Halle two weeks ago against the Greek, world number 5, the Aussie therefore has something to prove on Saturday. What he frequently achieves in the best of three sets, he must hold it for the length of the five sets. To do this, he can count on two elements: his slight psychological advantage over Stefanos Tsitsipas (he won three of their four duels) and the efficiency of his service on the grass which allows him to save energy and minimize the physical factor.

If he does not lack self-confidence, a possible success would perhaps offer him the hint of additional conviction in his capacities to triumph in Grand Slams. His good preparation – two consecutive semi-finals in Stuttgart and Halle – is likely to give him the ground necessary to achieve this. On the other hand, a new failure would send him back to his old label: that of “great wasted talent” in his own words. For the first time in a long time, he admitted that he would like to get rid of it. He now knows what he has to do.