The Wimbledon final loss to Novak Djokovic is still on the mind of Nick Kyrgios who spoke about it at the Citi Open pre-event press conference.
The Australian reached his maiden grand slam final at Wimbledon earlier this month but it finished with a defeat in the final to Novak Djokovic. It gave a new perspective to Kyrgios who understands now what it truly takes to win one of those. Reflecting on that, Kyrgios explained:
"You can lose a Grand Slam in a day, but you can't win one. It takes so many days. You know, you play a match and you have a day off, then you play again and then have a day off, like it's the mental capacity to keep doing the same things over and over again for two weeks at the highest level."
He continued:
"There's so many different things, intangibles. You might be feeling sick one day, like I fell sick before I played (Filip) Krajinovic. Your body is hurting, mentally. I couldn't sleep for two days after Rafa pulled out. Physically, I felt great, but mentally, you know."
He then paid credit to the big three admitting tht his respect his grown for them after this experience:
"You just have to be a mental animal to win a Grand Slam. Novak, Federer, and Nadal, I think I give them a bit more respect now."