Australia’s Nick Kyrgios has found another reason to love tennis after celebrating the final match of his latest pro tournament, the Tokyo Open, with a trip to see the Lord Of The Rings screenings.
Kyrgios, the US Open runner-up last September, plays British qualifier Cameron Norrie in the first round of the London Championships this week.
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But before he can focus on that, the world No5 has travelled to Tokyo to take in the final match of the Japan Open which he won on Sunday to boost his ranking to No5.
The 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) victory over his compatriot Bernard Tomic was his first in 14 events this year, his first since winning the ATP Vienna Open in May, and also his first against Tomic in four meetings.
The 20-year-old revealed he took time out of his schedule over the past few days for a movie and a table tennis tournament in Tokyo and with a quiet week ahead, his love of it all has been renewed.
Kyrgios told the ATP’s website: “You know, I’ve always been a big fan of movies and athletics and all of that and have made a few movie nights with my sister and brother.
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“And sometimes we just want to get away from it all. I just loved watching the last Lord of the Rings and it’s been great. I haven’t seen anything else since then.
“I’ve been practising, but that’s not enough, right? I want to go to the movies sometimes and just spend some time relaxing. I really want to go to Big Brother.
“I’ve been to the movies in the past before [but] it wasn’t with any purpose. I didn’t have a whole night’s practice.”
Kyrgios’s flight to London was delayed two days as a result of Typhoon Kong-rey in the Philippines which may have contributed to his tetchy reaction in his loss to Rafael Nadal in the Queen’s final. But those close to the player, and who have watched him get to and from many tournaments due to poor scheduling over the past 12 months, believe those issues have been fixed and he is enjoying a more balanced run of matches.
Kyrgios joined Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in yesterday’s line-up for Queen’s Club, but lost to his rival Karen Khachanov in the first round after winning one match in Miami and three in Rotterdam before reaching the quarter-finals of the French Open.
“Everybody tries to win, that’s what we do,” Kyrgios said. “It wasn’t about doubles or anything like that or watching a film or anything like that. It’s the kind of things you do to keep you on the edge.”
He added: “The intensity of match play, where it comes down to a few points, is always pretty intense. Being a pro for me, you need to keep that in mind, whether it’s tennis or an interview.”
After a flying start to his season, Kyrgios followed his Rome win with a round of main-draw losses at Wimbledon in the third round and at the Canadian Open in the third round.
But he has hinted that he might be poised for a breakthrough after winning his past two matches, albeit in the form of his life, in Brisbane and Tokyo.
He had arrived in London on Saturday and on the Sunday reached the Rogers Cup semi-finals in Canada before his lopsided defeat by the American Sam Querrey on Monday.
“I’m always hungry for success,” Kyrgios said. “I want to do well and every match I’m going to do my best until I’m done.
“I feel like I’m playing some really good tennis. I feel like I have a lot of positives to take from the last few weeks. Hopefully I can keep it going.”