Kyrgios unafraid to be his own man

SINGAPORE — Upon completing a 15-minute session with about 30 children from the Australian International School (AIS) yesterday, rising Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios looked annoyed.

The 19-year-old was upset about not having been briefed by his manager on what he had to do during his visit.

Fortunately, Kyrgios, who is here for the Singapore-leg of the inaugural Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) as part of the DBS Singapore Slammers’ team, which includes women’s world No 1 Serena Williams and men’s world No 7 Tomas Berdych, kept his cool.

And keeping his temper in check is something the Canberra native, whose win against 14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal at this year’s Wimbledon in July sent shockwaves through the tennis world, admitted he must do if he were to fulfil his potential as Australia’s next big tennis hope.

“I am an emotional player and it is good to be emotional and wanting to succeed,” Kyrgios, who is of Greek-Malaysian parentage, told TODAY.

“I don’t have to pour cold water on that. Obviously, I am going to channel it in the right way. I have family around me helping to deal with that and with the expectations on my shoulders ... That is the right thing to do, to maintain my success.”

Kyrgios, the 2013 Australian Open boys’ singles and 2013 Wimbledon boys’ doubles champion, was at the AIS to celebrate the launch of the first Athlete Development Program (ADP) for an international school in Singapore, which aims to develop athletic excellence through strength and conditioning, sports theory, fitness and skills.

The 1.93m-tall Kyrgios’ fearless nature helped him pull off a seismic win against Nadal, serving a whopping 37 aces en route to becoming the first Wimbledon debutant to reach the quarter-finals since Florian Mayer in 2004.

It prompted suggestions that he could become Australia’s first men’s Grand Slam champion since Lleyton Hewitt’s win at Wimbledon more than a decade ago in 2002.

But only a month later, his hot-headed streak nearly saw him disqualified from the US Open for smashing a ball out of the stadium in frustration and for swearing twice. He was penalised a game by the umpire for the third violation.

Australia’s Davis Cup captain Patrick Rafter also reportedly had harsh words for Kyrgios for his “lax training attitude” during the tournament, while Australian great John Newcombe — who last week presented Kyrgios with the Newcombe Medal for the country’s top player of the year — warned that he must be prepared to work hard to reach the top.

But Kyrgios said: “When I heard what Newcombe said, I thought it was a bit of rubbish. Obviously, I think I work hard, and I am going to continue to work hard as well.

“Physically, it is tough at such a young age (playing a first full season of Grand Slam tennis). It is a fight to stay healthy, too. I had a bone stress injury in the season, so I have to take time out when I can to get that right. For next season, I think I can definitely break into top 10.”