The flamboyant-Aussie Nick Kyrgios may be the last candidate to placate the players who lose their temper on court but he has offered help to Andrey Rublev after his recent meltdowns at the ATP Finals in Turin.
Kyrgios has been recruited by Tennis Channel as an analyst during the ATP Finals and his offer of support to the Russian brought a smile on the American former World No. 1 and his fellow analyst Andy Roddick’s face.
Rublev attracted unwanted attention after his outbursts reached a tipping point on Turin matchcourts. The 26-year-old smashed his racquet into his leg violently on a couple occasions during the match against ATP #2 Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in Turin.
His flare-ups were compared to some of the angriest racket smashes displayed by Kyrgios during his matches, with the Maverick Aussie suggesting the World No. 5 needs to control his emotions to get the best out of himself and added that he could be an unlikely ally to help him deal with the anger issues.
“I think he’s just got to be a bit nicer to himself,” said Kygios.
“I’ve said over and over again that he’s had a great season, won Monte Carlo. You look at all the past champions that won Monte Carlo, it’s an amazing accomplishment.
“So he went 0-3 against some pretty tough opponents (at the ATP Finals) but I don’t think he should go home super disappointed.
“I think he’s made three quarter-finals this year in the Grand Slams so I think moving into Australia he’s got to be in a good mindset moving forward.
“I mean, I’ll come fly to wherever he is and try to help him out mentally. I think I’ve got that down.”
Rublev has maintained his position as a top ten performer over the last couple of years, but has struggled to get past the game’s elite players especially on big occasions. Kyrgios has attempted to console the fiery Russian with the words of sympathy in the wake of his recent on-court outpourings.
“He’s run into a couple of tough opponents, run into Foe (Frances Tiafoe) at the US Open, it’s a tough feat to pass, but I think in a Grand Slam, I learned that last year, it’s just such a mental grind.
“Physically you actually feel okay, it’s just mentally being in the same spot for over two weeks. It’s brutal.
“I think mentally if you’re going to get so angry and anxious all the time, you just feel drained by the quarter-final stage. So if he can maybe just channel those emotions a bit better, I can’t believe I’m saying that, but if he can channel your emotions a bit better maybe he can get past the quarter-finals.”
The 26-year-old has lost the nine quarter-finals at majors and this has resulted in the frustration of Rublev who has always somehow fell short at the game’s biggest stages, failing to get over the winning line after putting so much effort and sacrifice.
“If you don’t like to lose, doesn’t matter who is the opponent,” Rublev told reporters in Turin.
“You feel disappointed, especially now when you understand that the season is over and that’s it basically.
“You want to do better. You want to show — not to show, but you want at least to try to do better result, to play some great matches at the end of the season. Of course, you feel disappointed when it’s not happening.”
Rublev will be back for one last time in 2023 season in London in the middle of December, as he will play at Ultimate Tennis Showdown Finals in the ExCel Arena.