01-18-2017, 11:32 PM
I reckon Kyrgios (like Tomic and plenty of other young sportsmen before him) has been overly scrutinised to the point where every misstep they make actually is received so poorly by the media it's detrimental to their development.
I watched the end of the 4th and the 5th set, and a bit more luck, he would have come through that 5 and won. It was clear to anyone watching that he was not in great physical condition. The irony is not lost on me that Novak Djokovic looked similarly out of sorts physically against Verdasco the other night.
Just on the physical conditioning, he cant be that much of a slouch to go 3 hours+ in one match, and take the 5th set to 10-8.
Sure, he cost himself an easier win by not being focussed enough when it mattered in the 3rd, but I think that a lot has been taken away from Seppi and placed onto Kyrgios who is like almost every other 21 year old figuring out that talent will only get you part of the way there and that you have to do almost everything right to really kick on and go next level.
He seemed to be extremely negative towards himself after the match in the press conference, and you could tell that he is starting to wake up. I don't believe now is the time to play the man too hard, and am dissapointed to see the massive backlash after his opponent had to save match point in the 5th with some excellent tennis. Sure it shouldnt have gotten to that point, but sometimes we take too much away from people by focussing on the negatives their opponents do.
My final comments, he's 21. Not everyone is a model professional at aged 21, and I will be the first to put my hand up and state thank god video and social media were not around when I was in my teenage years.
I wouldn't have survived aged 15-21 if there was a spotlight ready to be shined upon all my misteps the way kids these days are. They get so scutinised its ridiculous.
It might be worth noting at this point, that the Tennis media, commentary have been very critical of this guy for about 2 years now. Particularly that hypocrite John Mcenroe who simply cannot be serious with his critique of any players mentality. In the current proffesional era, a swing of 5% can see you go from chocolates to boiled lollies very quickly.
I watched the end of the 4th and the 5th set, and a bit more luck, he would have come through that 5 and won. It was clear to anyone watching that he was not in great physical condition. The irony is not lost on me that Novak Djokovic looked similarly out of sorts physically against Verdasco the other night.
Just on the physical conditioning, he cant be that much of a slouch to go 3 hours+ in one match, and take the 5th set to 10-8.
Sure, he cost himself an easier win by not being focussed enough when it mattered in the 3rd, but I think that a lot has been taken away from Seppi and placed onto Kyrgios who is like almost every other 21 year old figuring out that talent will only get you part of the way there and that you have to do almost everything right to really kick on and go next level.
He seemed to be extremely negative towards himself after the match in the press conference, and you could tell that he is starting to wake up. I don't believe now is the time to play the man too hard, and am dissapointed to see the massive backlash after his opponent had to save match point in the 5th with some excellent tennis. Sure it shouldnt have gotten to that point, but sometimes we take too much away from people by focussing on the negatives their opponents do.
My final comments, he's 21. Not everyone is a model professional at aged 21, and I will be the first to put my hand up and state thank god video and social media were not around when I was in my teenage years.
I wouldn't have survived aged 15-21 if there was a spotlight ready to be shined upon all my misteps the way kids these days are. They get so scutinised its ridiculous.
It might be worth noting at this point, that the Tennis media, commentary have been very critical of this guy for about 2 years now. Particularly that hypocrite John Mcenroe who simply cannot be serious with his critique of any players mentality. In the current proffesional era, a swing of 5% can see you go from chocolates to boiled lollies very quickly.
"everything you know is wrong"
Paul Hewson
Paul Hewson