Ahead of Andy Murray’s Australian Open quarter-final against rising star Nick Kyrgios, we list seven surprising facts about the Canberra teenager.
1. Kyrgios was a keen basketball player and played at regional representative levels until he was forced to pick between basketball and tennis at the age of 14. Kyrgios described the decision as “probably the toughest I’ve ever had to make”.
2. Kyrgios is a big Tottenham fan and was given a specially-arranged tour of the club’s training facility in November. “I’ve been following Emmanuel Adebayor for quite a while,” Kyrgios admitted.
Rising tennis star Nick Kyrgios visited the training centre this week – Read what he had to say – http://t.co/a21FWt2qlX
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) November 15, 2014
3. Kyrgios’s father George wears the same “lucky” fluorescent striped shirt each time he watches his son play – not that Kyrgios is impressed. “I’m not big on karma and superstition, so I don’t really know why he does that,” he said.
4. Kyrgios was reluctantly introduced to tennis at the age of seven by his mother Nill. He recalled: “My mum brought me down to the local tennis centre in Canberra, my home town. I wasn’t keen. I didn’t want to play it.”
5. His sister Halimah is a model and musical theatre performer. She received a scholarship to attend the McDonald Performing Arts College in Sydney before completing a Bachelor of Arts in Musical Theatre in Singapore.
Long day… Off to a little bit of shopping!! ✌ï¸â¤ï¸ @NickKyrgios @xkyrgios @nillkyrgios pic.twitter.com/CQEL3eWaY7
— Halimah Kyrgios (@halimahkyrgios) November 14, 2014
6. Kyrgios found himself embroiled in an unlikely feud with Canadian rapper Drake during his Wimbledon run last year. Kyrgios put his bad start in a match against Jiri Vesily down to listening to Drake’s music as he walked on court. Drake responded that he would “size up” the tennis player, “then chop him right down”. Clearly Kyrgios didn’t take offence…
Best concert ever. @Drake & @LilTunechi killed it. Enjoyed every moment. My favourite – Started From The Bottom. pic.twitter.com/LihDPvcpN7
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) August 20, 2014
7. Kyrgios saved a Wimbledon record nine match points in his match against Richard Gasquet last year, eventually winning 3-6 6-7 (4/7) 6-4 7-5 10-8.
Source: SNAPPA
