Nick Kyrgios

Nick Kyrgios is an Australian tennis player. He made his main-draw grand slam debut at the French Open in 2013 and won his first ATP Tour title in 2016.

The 27-year-old enjoyed a strong and promising junior career in which he made it up to number one in the world rankings and won the Australian Open boys’ singles title.

Kyrgios secured his first ATP Tour title at the 2016 Open 13 in Marseille, impressively finishing the tournament without having his serve broken.

He continued to make progress and reached his first ATP Masters final at the Cincinnati Masters in 2017, before losing to Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets.

At the start of 2022, Kyrgios won his first grand slam doubles title at the Australian Open in Melbourne alongside partner Thanasi Kokkinakis.

The Australian is known as a talented but hot-tempered player, with Kyrgios having picked up various warnings and fines from the tennis governing bodies over the years.

So, what do we know about Nick’s journey to becoming the talented tennis player he is today? This is his story.

Early Life, Parents And Upbringing

Nick Kyrgios (full name: Nicholas Hilmy Kyrgios) was born on 27 April 1995 to parents George and Norlaila. Nick was born in Canberra, Australia. He has a brother named Christos and a sister named Halimah.

Nick says that he chose to focus on tennis over basketball mainly because he felt he was better at the former at the time.

“I guess I was around 13, 14, because you get injured a lot in basketball, I guess, and that was going to keep me out of tennis and I was a fair bit better at tennis, I thought, at the time,” Kyrgios said in an interview in 2013.

“So I thought I’d just give everything, give all my dedication to that and see how it goes, and it’s obviously paid off a fair bit.”

Nick revealed that former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash was his tennis role model when he was growing up and developing his game.

Nick Kyrgios (Photo: Marianne Bevis)

“I guess Pat Cash was a pretty good role model,” Nick said back in 2013. “To this day, he’s always sort of messaging me, supporting me, giving me advice. Yeah, he’s obviously really helped me because I played junior Davis Cup and he was the coach.”

His favourite shot is his serve and preferred tournaments are Wimbledon and the US Open. As well as Cash, Nick idolised Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as a youngster.

Junior And Early Career

Kyrgios was a promising junior player and reached the top of the junior world rankings in January 2013.

He played his first junior match back in 2008 when he was just 13 years old and won his first ITF junior title two years later in Fiji.

Speaking after the triumph in the final, Kyrgios said: “Obviously I’m going to take a lot confidence out off this. Still a long way to go, it’s a long journey, anything can happen, but right now I’m really happy. I’m just going to keep working hard.”

Rise Up The Rankings

Nick made his grand slam main-draw debut at the 2013 French Open. He was initially handed a wild-card into qualifying but was put straight into the main draw after John Millman pulled out.

He beat Radek Stepanek 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (13-11) in his first-round match at Melbourne to record his first singles grand slam victory.

“It was obviously an unbelievable experience even walking out to be part of such a great tournament,” said Kyrgios after the win. “I want to thank Tennis Australia for that opportunity.

Nick Kyrgios (Photo: Christopher Putnam / FILEDIMAGE Photography / depositphotos.com)

“My goal today was just to go out there and enjoy every moment and give my best effort from the first point to the last. It was obviously a great feeling finally winning that match point.”

Nick continued to make steady progress up the rankings as he found his feet on the ATP Tour.

To reach the last eight, he defeated the likes of Richard Gasquet and Rafael Nadal, before ending up losing to Milos Raonic of Canada in four sets in the quarter-finals.

Reflecting on his run at Wimbledon after losing to Raonic, Kyrgios said: “I thought I played a strong first set. I just couldn’t maintain that level. What he brought today was something special. It was such a great achievement [beating Nadal]. That’s something that no one can take away from me. I’m always going to have that now. I drew a lot of confidence out of that.”

Kyrgios then reached the quarter-finals of the 2015 Australian Open on home soil, losing to Andy Murray in straight sets in the last eight.

He then also triumphed at Atlanta Open after beating John Isner in the final to collect his second title of the year, before also winning his first ATP Tour 500 series title in Tokyo at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships.

Nick Kyrgios (Photo: Leonard Zhukovsky / depositphotos.com)

“It was tough, we had a lot of long rallies,” said Nick, who was 21 at the time, after beating David Goffin in the final in Tokyo. “I thought the way I returned today got me a lot of opportunities. It was a high-quality match, but I got lucky at times as well.”

His next title arrived on home soil in 2018, when he beat Ryan Harrison at the Brisbane international to collect his fourth career crown.

“What a week,” said Kokkinakis after the triumph. “Nick, I love you brother. I can honestly say we did not expect to even come close to this.”

Kyrgios added: “This week has been a dream come true and I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else. I’m just super happy. I don’t know how we’re doing this or what’s going on.”

“I look back at it and I’m just like ‘How am I here?’ Like, where I’m from, everything I’ve been through,” said Kyrgios after the final defeat. “You know, it’s pretty cool. I’m just not supposed to be here.”

Earnings, Prize Money And Sponsorships

Nick Kyrgios has earned a total of US$ 11,194,480 in career prize money for both singles and doubles combined, as of July 2022.

He has a number of sponsorship agreements with companies including Yonex, Nike and Beats.

Life Away From The Court

Nick is a huge basketball fan and his favourite players are LeBron James, Kevin Garnett and Michael Jordan. He supports NBA team Boston Celtics.

According to his biography page on the official ATP Tour website, follows a vegan diet. He listens to a variety of music and his favourite artists are Lil Wayne, Fetty Wap and Drake.

He enjoys comedy TV shows and movies, and likes playing Call of Duty, considering himself to be “the best gamer on the tennis tour”.

Nick Kyrgios with his girlfriend Costeen Hatzi in 2022 (Photo: @k1ngkyrg1os / Instagram)

He also created the Nick Kyrgios Foundation in support of underprivileged youth. The foundation received an ATP ACES for charity grant of $15,000 back in 2018.

What Have Others Said?

Novak Djokovic, speaking after beating Nick Kyrgios in the 2022 Wimbledon final: “It is tough to find consolation words at a moment like this but you showed why you are one of the best players in the world. I wish you all the best. I respect you a lot and you are a phenomenal talent. I never thought I would say so many nice things about you! OK, it’s official – it is a bromance.”

Tim Henman, speaking about Nick Kyrgios back in 2015: “Kyrgios is a performer, an entertainer and will go out and play the tennis he is capable of. He can beat anyone because he is seriously talented. He is a bit different and speaks his mind but the most important thing is that he doesn’t get distracted from what’s happening on the court.”

John Newcombe, also speaking about Kyrgios in 2015: “Nick is an exceptional talent and he doesn’t beat to the same drum as everyone else – he’s a real individual. Some media people will take the little negative things and build them into big issues, rather than looking at more positive things, which far outweigh the negative things.”