Nick Kyrgios has revealed that his “love-hate relationship” with tennis constrains him to no more than two hours of training before becoming bored.
The Australian wildcard, who reached the Halle Open semi-finals on Friday with a 6-4 6-2 win over Spanish sixth seed Pablo Carreno Busta, labelled his sport “frustrating”.
“I get so frustrated at times I have to calm myself down,” he said.
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Used to running his practice sessions without a coach, the 27-year-old said he is happy with his nontraditional approach to training.
“In practice, I mainly play points and tiebreakers – I like to keep it fun,” he said.
“I need to be having fun on court. I need to do things to make me excited to train, so I use my basketball training. I can’t play tennis for more than two hours – it’s a bit boring I think.”
After losing his semi-final at the Stuttgart Open to Andy Murray last week, Kyrgios confessed that life on the ATP tour is not always rosy.
“You are on your own, an island, you are exposed,” he said.
“It’s a love-hate relationship for me, for sure. My parents pushed me to play tennis from age seven, it’s taken me on a long journey.
“You do get to travel the world every week and experience new cultures and people. Actually, it’s a hell of a sport.”
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On Friday, Kyrgios dug into his bag of tricks, treating the Halle crowd to an assortment of ‘tweeners’, aces and an underarm serve to shock his Spanish opponent in just under 70 minutes.
Kyrgios won the sixth game of the opening set with a flick from behind his legs on a return, causing Carreno Busta to sail a return long.
He also played an underarm serve in the sixth game of the second set as he closed in on victory.
“Tennis has been so straight for so long. All I’m doing is an underarm serve. It was not much, but the crowd went crazy,” the world No.65 said.
“They are so used to watching the same thing every time. When someone like me comes and does things differently, that’s all it takes.”
Reaching the semis for his third straight tournament, Kyrgios said he played a solid match against Carreno Busta as he continues to prove himself an outside chance for Wimbledon.
“I’ve had some good runs in my career, but I’m really pleased with this performance,” the 2014 quarter-finalist at the All England Club said.
“He’s Spanish but plays well on all surfaces and hits a flat ball – he’s an all-court player.
“I knew I had to be locked in from the back (of the court), I played really well today.”
Kyrgios will next meet Polish fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz on Saturday night for a place in the final of the ATP 500 event.
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