Nick Kyrgios mentioned it was “not difficult at all” to focus on this week’s Japan Open, regardless of his courtroom listening to on Tuesday at dwelling in Australia for alleged frequent assault.
The 27-year-old Wimbledon finalist is because of have his case heard at a magistrates’ courtroom in Canberra, on the identical day he’s scheduled to play in Tokyo.
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It is frequent for defendants to not seem for largely administrative hearings the place they’ve authorized illustration. Details of the allegation in opposition to Kyrgios haven’t been disclosed.
The maverick world quantity 20, at his first match since shedding within the quarter-finals of the US Open final month, mentioned that he had been coping with the case “for months” and was taking it “day by day”.
“There’s only so much I can control and I’m taking all the steps and dealing with that off the court,” Kyrgios, one of the crucial polarising figures in tennis, mentioned on Monday within the Japanese capital.
“I can only do what I can and I’m here in Tokyo and just trying to play some good tennis, continue that momentum and just try to do my job, and that’s play tennis, play it well. That’s it.”
The temperamental Kyrgios, whose potential has usually been betrayed by his on-court behaviour, mentioned he was “super excited” to be again in motion in Tokyo after his “heartbreaking” US Open defeat to Russia’s Karen Khachanov.
He mentioned the loss had “added a bit of fuel” to his motivation and feels he is able to win his first Grand Slam at subsequent 12 months’s Australian Open.
“I thought the US Open was a great chance — obviously that one really, really hurt because I definitely thought that I was the favourite after I beat (Daniil) Medvedev,” he mentioned.
“Now I just have to wait until the Australian Open but I just want to keep my form, the way I’m playing, I want to keep that going,” he mentioned.
“I’m doing all the right things so I definitely think I can win a Grand Slam, for sure,” he added.
Building blocks
Kyrgios reached his first Grand Slam ultimate at Wimbledon this 12 months however misplaced to Novak Djokovic, regardless of profitable the primary set.
He mentioned that mentally he now feels he can “win any match” after selecting up extra expertise of taking part in five-set matches and “working on every aspect of my game”.
“For a couple of years I didn’t even get past the third round — I wasn’t training hard enough, I probably wasn’t taking the sport seriously enough,” he mentioned.
“Now, the last year and a half I’ve been training really, really hard.”
Kyrgios is seeded 5 in Tokyo and can play Taiwan’s Tseng Chun-hsin within the first spherical.
Top seed Casper Ruud, US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz additionally function within the draw.
Kyrgios mentioned that “Grand Slams is all you really get remembered by” however he additionally mentioned it was “easy to get motivated” for Tokyo, the place he gained in 2016.
“You can’t just rock up to a Grand Slam and expect to win it,” he mentioned.
“You’ve got to put the building blocks in and the foundations in place. I’m super excited to be here, that’s for sure.”
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