"Nick Kyrgios has a messy way of understanding the game" - Toni Nadal after Wimbledon final

Nick Kyrgios lost the Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic and Toni Nadal was left unimpressed by his display.

He voiced his displeasure about the way Kyrgios played that final in a lengthy interview with El Pais where he spoke at length about the match and what exactly went wrong for the Australian. Plenty of things went wrong obviously as he lost the match but for Nadal there is a fundamental flaw in his game that is the main culprit of all of it.

He said:

“In the decisive moments, he was unable to control his anxiety that, again, degenerated into constant rebukes to his team as if they were to blame for the undesired paths the scoreboard was taking for him. The match lacked great brilliance, mainly because there were too many unplayed points. The lack of perseverance of the Australian, especially in regards to maintaining his aggressiveness, revealed the main problem that, in my opinion, his game possesses."

Nadal further elaborated:

“He has a bad habit of hitting too many balls in any way, basically without paying attention and in a bad position. In today’s tennis, due to the speed at which the ball goes, there is no choice but to look for a good position to have good control. The great players measure their steps well, seek a good position, and from there, try to hit a good shot and increase the chances of victory."

He finished off with:

“Nick Kyrgios, with his messy way of understanding the game, is handicapped not so much by what he does with the ball, but by the way he wants to do it. It is very difficult for him to achieve the continuity that requires scoring points. Tennis is a sport of repetition, rather than the spectacular.”