Tennis news - Nick Kyrgios: Hiring a coach would be a 'waste of money' and 'pointless'

Updated 09/06/2020 at 10:48 GMT

Nick Kyrgios believes hiring a coach would be a "waste of money" and "pointless", and doubts whether he will ever win a Grand Slam.

Nick Kyrgios

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The 25-year-old has made it to the quarter-finals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, but is largely considered to have under-performed so far in his career considering his powerful game.

Unlike most of the top players in the men’s game, he often travels without a full-time coach, and he says that isn't likely to change soon.

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"Personally, I think (hiring a coach) is a little bit of a waste of money 'cause I think they get paid way too much," he told comedian and friend Elliot Loney on a podcast.

And, for me, I don't have a goal of winning Grand Slams. I just want to do it my way, have fun with it and just play. So to get a coach for me is pointless because I don't want to waste their time almost. I just don't think a coach is ready - and I'm not going to put them through it too 'cause it would just be a nightmare.

"Where I'm at my career now, it's just too far gone, I think for a coach, 'cause I'm too set in my ways and I just don't like to listen to advice, to be honest."

Kyrgios also says he doubts he'll ever win a Slam because of the physical demands over two weeks.

"I don't believe my body will hold up for seven matches at a Grand Slam, potentially playing three to four hours (each match)," he said.

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Although he potentially hasn’t fulfilled his potential yet, Kyrgios says he has no regrets over how his career has panned out.

"If I could, I'd just be on the beers every time I play - afterwards. I just want to chill out. I just think the sport's taken a bit too seriously," he said.

"There were a lot of people who had their two cents about what I had to do to make it, so to speak, and yeah those comments were hurtful at times.

"I was only a kid. I just wanted to play, go compete, and you've got coaches and teachers saying to a 14, 15-year-old kid 'you need to lose weight, otherwise you're not going to be good'.

"It was pretty tough to handle back then ... I just wanted to prove a lot of people wrong.

"I wanted to go out there, like a fat kid from Canberra who was decent at ball striking (to show I) could literally take it to some of the best in the world."