Making no promises, Nick Kyrgios finally feels he belongs on the big stages, hunting the major titles in tennis, despite falling painfully short in his maiden grand slam final.
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Kyrgios was left gutted and heartened in equal parts following Sunday's 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-3) loss to Novak Djokovic in a high-quality Wimbledon title match.
The Australian underdog defied his unseeded status to have Djokovic only a few points away from staring down a two-set deficit on a centre court where the now 21-time grand slam champion has been undefeated in almost a decade.
"It's taken me 10 years, almost 10 years in my career to finally get to the point of playing for a grand slam and coming up short, but my level is right there," Kyrgios said.
"You look at what Novak has done to some other opponents, and it's not a good feeling. But I'm right there. I'm not behind the eight ball at all.
"I played a slam final against one of the greatest of all time, and I was right there.
"I came out in the first set and I looked like I was the one who had played in a lot of finals. I thought I dealt with the pressure pretty well."
At 27, Kyrgios conceded before the final that he'd feared his time had come and gone and that he would never make a grand slam final.
The mercurial talent - described post-match by Djokovic's coach Goran Ivanisevic as a "tennis genius" - remains unsure if he'll reach another slam final.
But, after revealing in February that he'd self-harmed in 2019 and harboured suicidal thoughts, Kyrgios believes he's on the right path after turning a corner this year.
"The confidence and the belief in yourself, that only comes with achievement or something that (Djokovic has) achieved like that many times," Kyrgios said.
"I can only imagine how confident he feels every day, especially at Wimbledon, walking around.
"So I've got that under my belt now, a Wimbledon finalist. I can kind of draw from experience.
"My level has always been there but I feel like I've kind of put it together a little bit this week, these couple weeks."
In his victory speech, Djokovic said he was convinced Kyrgios would continue challenging for grand slam spoils now that he's finally broken through to a final.
Kyrgios credits his new-found contentment off the court for his improved fortunes on it.
"My fire's been lit this whole year," he said.
"I've obviously met a lot of amazing people this year who have just given me extra motivation.
"To find people that finally have my back, that I just love being around, and they just want to push me to be a better person and to be a better tennis player, they realise that I'm immensely talented and I have a lot of, I feel like, a lot more to do in this sport."
Kyrgios smiled in the immediate aftermath to his loss that the shattering defeat had "absolutely not" fuelled his hunger to win a grand slam title.
But the complex character later admitted that he may have actually lost the desire to play on if he'd won Wimbledon on Sunday.
"I feel like if I had won today, I would have struggled with motivation," Kyrgios said.
"I've been told my entire life winning Wimbledon is the ultimate achievement.
"For someone like me - I'm not like a young guy like (Jannik) Sinner or someone or Carlos Alcaraz, who have come on tour recently and gone deep in slams - I feel like if I had won that grand slam, I would have lacked a bit of motivation, to be honest.
"Coming back for other tournaments, like 250s and stuff, I would have really struggled (if) I kind of achieved the greatest pinnacle of what you can achieve in tennis."
Sticking to a limited playing schedule, Kyrgios plans on taking a break to recharge for the American hardcourt swing culminating in the US Open starting on August 29.
Australian Associated Press
