Roger Federer is my only role model, says Nick Kyrgios

Troubled Tennis player Nick Kyrgios revealed that 17-time Grand Slam Champion Roger Federer was his only role model in the sport. According to the Australian, watching Federer play helped him to be on his best behaviour. The 20-year old, who is currently playing in the Malayasian Open, opened up about his interest in watching Federer play and also said that he enjoyed watching Youtube videos of the legend at work.

“I think he’s the greatest of all time, he’s the one role model I have—off the court as well—because of the way he carries himself, helping people”, he told Tennis.com

The tennis player who is also half-Malaysian and half-Greek, said that he enjoyed playing both Tennis and Basketball as a child, and had to make a tough choice between the two sports. “My parents drove me towards tennis a lot, I’ve come a long way from where I was around six years ago, so I don’t regret the choice at all”, he said.

Kyrgios has been in the news over the past few months for all the wrong reasons, starting with the ‘tanking’ controversy in a Wimbledon match against Richard Gasquet, after failing to return serves. During the Rogers Cup, Kyrgios was accused of sledging Stan Wawrinka during their match and was briefly suspended and fined US$10,000, after being found guilty of the same. During the recent US Open, Kyrgios paired with the Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in mixed doubles and the pair caught the attention of everyone with their flirtatious behaviour on the court, which was mostly initiated by Kyrgios. The Aussie also expressed disappointed after he was omitted from the Australian Davis Cup squad.

The 20-year old had some positive to take from the Malaysian Open after he lost in a hard-fought semi-final to second seed Feliciano Lopez. During his brief career, he has already managed to defeat greats like Nadal and even Federer, and the Aussie has a long way to go before he can go on to emulate his role-model, and play more consistent tennis to better his game.