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A somewhat subdued Nick Kyrgios behaves, but Andy Murray remains a better tennis player in a four-set victory
NEW YORK – Despite all of the media attention heaped on 20-year-old Australian Nick Kyrgios in the tennis universe the last few weeks, it seemed most of the fans at Tuesday's US Open night session either weren't aware, or had an idea and came to see a show.
What did they get from the current enfant terrible of men's tennis? A little bit of everything, but a whole lot of not much.
The crowd's verdict was rather inconclusive, too, during a 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 loss to No. 3 seed Andy Murray that only showed flashes of potential when Kyrgios took the third set to extend it.
If you had to boil it down to one word, it was probably "perplexed".
Kyrgios, 20, hit a tweener and ended up winning one point. He leaped into the air in the patented airborne two-handed backhand stance ... only to hit a delicate backhand drop shot down the line for a winner. He took a few mid-match mini-naps.
He tossed his racquet a few times, and cracked one – which finally brought a warning from umpire Carlos Ramos. There were a few choice words tossed, and some running commentary that has become standard Kyrgios fare. He complained (rightly) that people were taking their very expensive seats down near the court in the middle of a game. He had issues with the new lighting configuration inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, which has changed because of the partially-constructed roof structure.
But in terms of the tennis, Kyrgios is still a few levels beneath Murray. And in the end, despite the promise of this first-round matchup, that's what it came down to.
The questions to Kyrgios afterwards tended towards the "disappointed at all those missed chances" narrative (he was 3-for-14 on break-point opportunities). Kyrgios didn't see it that way.
"It wasn't disappointing. I would say it was exciting for me. You know, I love playing these types of guys. Obviously I would have liked to play him deeper in the draw. Somebody has to play him. I think he's probably in the best form of his life. He can go really well, potentially win it," Kyrgios said, chomping energetically on his gum. "I thought I put in a really good performance tonight. Obviously it's not the result I wanted. But I thought I was focused and ready for today. I had a good preparation."
There has been a lot swirling around Kyrgios since that night in Montreal, when he made some uncalled-for comments on opponent Stan Wawrinka's personal life that were caught on microphones and went around the world in a flash.
Kyrgios, diffident at the best of times, hasn't "displayed" the public humility the grownups somehow want to see from him, so he's sort of grounded in the figurative sense until he's "properly" contrite.
But the potential sanctions that will be levied on him by the ATP Tour if he so much as disturbs one petal on one single courtside flower arrangement are on hold during this US Open, which is under the aegis of the International Tennis Federation. After this, he heads off to Davis Cup against Great Britain, also under the ITF umbrella. The ATP microscope only gets fired up with the next regular Tour event he plays.
In his own way, Kyrgios did allow that he has learned something. He "100 per cent" understood that there might be people in the well-heeled crowd who were prepared to dislike him because of the previous events.
"I'd like to think that I'm going to learn from it. I think I have. I think I'm on the right path. I don't think any of us in this room right now were perfect at 20. Speak up if you were," he said.
In response, only crickets. Obviously.
Still, few if any of the people in the interview room stood on as large and public a stage as Kyrgios is right now, where any and all mistakes blow up on social media.
Kyrgios said he doesn't get where and how the up-and-coming Australians are getting their bad-boy reputations from – perhaps on his planet, run-ins with the police while driving a fancy sports car, or tabloid photos of birthday parties gone wild (Bernard Tomic), or internationally insulting a fellow player's girlfriend shouldn't even be on the radar.
He was careful to exclude his friend Thanasi Kokkinakis from that characterization.
"Myself and Bernard, it's so funny, Bernard, he's harmless. He's just a normal kid. I don't really understand where he gets this reputation from, or where I get it from at all," he said. "We show emotion out there. We might not be the most usual tennis players you see. Somehow we got this reputation that's just ridiculous."
While that statement probably doesn't indicate increased self-awareness, it's clear Kyrgios does have people within the game that he both respects and listens to.
One of them is Murray, against whom he had not even won a set in three meetings before Tuesday night – two of them also at Grand Slams, this year in Australia and at the French Open.
"Yeah, of course. I've had a really good relationship with Andy for a long time now. He's always had nice things to say about me. ... Whenever I've needed something, I've come to him," he said. "I've sort of looked at a guy like him that's a really good role model for everyone."
And then, there is Lleyton Hewitt, Australia's future Davis Cup captain, who was courtside for the match. As it happens, Hewitt is still in the singles (to play Tomic), while both Kyrgios and Kokkinakis are already out.
"I'd say he's a mentor for me. He's been helping myself, Thanasi out as well. He's taken time out. I'm really thankful for that. He's really helped me a lot the last couple weeks. He let me stay with him in the Bahamas for some preparation. He's been a massive part of getting my head stable, and being able to have the performance tonight, I think that's massive. Yeah, that's all Lleyton," he said.
To sum up, what has Kyrgios learned from all the controversy.
"Keep your mouth shut at times."
He still has the mixed doubles with Canadian Genie Bouchard to come.
