"You're trying to kill this person... and now I've got to shower next to him!" 🚿 Nick Kyrgios reveals to Gordon Ramsay what the locker room dynamics are like in professional tennis. 👀
"I have to see this person all day": Nick Kyrgios admits difficulty in gaining sporting edge in tennis due to close proximity of players
ATPThursday, 08 February 2024 at 00:00
Nick
Kyrgios is set to debut a new series titled "Good Trouble," engaging in
conversations with renowned British chef Gordon Ramsay. The 2022 Wimbledon
finalist discussed the challenges of balancing on-court rivalries with fellow
players while sharing a significant amount of time off the court.
The former
world No. 13 is still in the process of recovering from injuries and has not
yet announced a return date. Having played only one match in 2023, he faced
another setback in 2024, leading to the withdrawal from the Australian Open for
the second consecutive year.
Kyrgios on the unique dynamics at theTour
The
talented Australian provided insights into the day-to-day life of tennis
players on the tour, highlighting the paradox of individual competition in a
sport that involves shared spaces and interactions with rivals. Kyrgios drew a
comparison with team sports, where athletes spend time with teammates rather
than opponents.
“The thing
about tennis is everyone thinks it’s individual, but then we shower all
together, we eat together, so we see these people minutes before we walk out
into the arena, which is the craziest thing in sport,” said Kyrgios.
“Usually
you have separate locker rooms and you don’t see this person all day, you are
trying to kill this person. So for instance at last year’s US Open me and
[Daniil] Medvedev are about to go out there and we’re just in the locker room
watching the previous match finish and we are getting our stuff together and we
go to play.
“Then we
just come right back into the locker room, get undressed, shower, and then we
are the only two people in the locker room, and I have to see this person all
day.
“So it’s
not like a team environment but it feels like you’re doing the same thing
because it’s like ‘I’ve just played in front of millions of people against this
guy for hundreds and thousands of dollars, and now I have to shower next to
him’.”
Nick
Kyrgios, known for his candid and outspoken nature, discussed the challenges of
finding a balance in the unique dynamics of the tennis tour. Despite the
individual nature of the sport, Kyrgios highlighted the paradox of spending
considerable time with opponents off the court, a dynamic different from team
sports: “It’s so hard to find that balance," he expressed
“I’ve
always been a team environment guy. I love basketball, soccer, all that type of
stuff. But tennis is so crazy like that, it’s hard to get an edge,” Kyrgios
added. “We spend hours and hours together. I was talking to his [Medvedev’s]
coach before we walked out there [at the US Open],” Kyrgios concluded.
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