Nick Kyrgios Unfiltered: “I’m Doing It My Way” - Exclusive Interview

aapo the 500 that I won it was the darkest week of my life I was self Haring I was thinking about suicide and then I won the tournament and the media was like he won the tournament is it the new Nick curios and it was the worst I'd ever been and that's when I realized winning is not going to fix this welcome to tennis Insider Club I am borad Duran and together with my partner kolene Garcia here is where tennis stories and life conversations intersect join us as we uncover The Untold personal journeys of the icons of the Court from lofter to life lessons it's all here do you support climate [Applause] change we know you don't but your money probably does be part of the solution find out how you can use your money for good thank you so much Nick for being here with us super exciting we were looking forward to it and first can you tell us how did your journey with tennis started um my journey with tennis started when I was about 7 years old I was a very chubby kid in Australia and I didn't like playing sport at all I usually played video games didn't do much exercise at all and then my mom just said look we have to do some exercise we I'm going to take you down to the local tennis courts about 5 minutes away and I remember I was crying I was like I don't want to play like I I hate this sport I don't like it and then after about 2 months I started to enjoy it and I was actually found it fun and then that was it and uh so basically it was just me to do some exercise and lose some weight at the start and I guess you showed like some good talent from the beginning right yeah I think like 6 months in the coaches like two coaches kind of told my parents like he's picking the sport up a little bit easier than the other other kids and basically that's something I've had to deal with my whole career is I was so talented um but yeah yeah it was uh it's been a long journey now I'm 29 so ever since I was seven okay and how was this transition from being a kid that started to lose weight into getting good and seeing that you will have maybe a chance to become a pro was it easy um I never thought I was going to become a pro I was playing from seven and then I got to about 15 and I was you know going up the ranks obviously playing a lot of Junior events and then won a couple Juni double uh doubles grand slams and then I was number one Junior in the world but I never thought I would still be as good as feder at the time Nadal and then i w a challenger at 17 I think and then I saw the list of people that had done that and it was like Ryan ich fedra demitro and I just I I laughed I was like there's no way that Nick cuos is going to be uh at that level and then a year later it was I was there it just happened straight away but I didn't think I was I was eating terribly I was training a little bit I was going to school still with my friends um were you enjoying tennis though or not I was enjoying I think I was enjoying tennis a little bit more then than I was later in my career there was so much pressure and so much every time we walk on the court there's so much expectation I think I enjoyed okay tennis a lot more back then yeah okay you talk about expectations and pressure was it coming from yourself was no not from me it was always from the media or people they were like this guy's going to be the next big thing and I was like I was a 18 in I didn't really like I didn't love the sport I was just playing for a bit of fun and you like competing or not yeah I love competing you know if we played anything played card right here I it would be the same man okay yeah huh interesting yeah you won Australian Open in junior Y and from that point it really like started to be more pressure after you did good in in Wimbledon uh yeah that was the that was probably the starting point yeah I'll beat thanasi in the final of Australian and then all these people started calling like I don't know just it was just like oh are you wanting to go professional like are you playing and I just yeah I kept training and then it just happened then obviously the year later I beat Rafa on Center Court here when I was I think 18 and a half 19 years old and then my life changed forever and I remember I was just playing video like I was went back to my air I actually walked from the courts with my tennis bag to the wion Village to get food with my dad after that like we I didn't know recovery I didn't recover I didn't like take the sport that seriously I just went with my dad to just get some food with my tennis bag on after i b r from the courts just walking so um yeah it happened very quickly and at that moment where like know it looks that you might have like a real chance with all these big at some do you like think okay maybe I I want to like double in and start doing recoveries working as hard as them or for you was not always about winning the same like Grand Slam was more enjoying the ride or it it wasn't about winning Grand Slams for me it it was just about playing the sport that you know I I chose and doing it my way you know I think when you watch Rafa Novak even C and alres they're so perfect on the court they're always they're not really getting angry they're just they're there I don't know and for me when I'm on the court I could be smashing a racket I could be talking with the crowd I could be having fun and I think that's another way someone can play the game it's not just one way and yeah I mean I have a one of grand slam I made the final of of wimon and I think I'm I'm proving I'm still proving a lot of people wrong but I'm doing it my way and I'm having fun I think not in other sports it's more accepted this not wanting to be the best of the best no and just accepting to be like well great for the rest but maybe not as great as as the others no but it's true in Dennis it felt that always you were a Big Juds no but not to go the extra mile and maybe have another like things in life besides besides things Yeah by being a bit different than the other one yeah I I think yeah I think tennis players are always judged on have you won a grand slam that's it at the end of the day I think when your career is finished have you won a grand slam and not like I won the doubles Grand Slam and it was amazing like the fact that I won a doubles Grand Slam home at home was was such a good feeling and then the next day it was like oh he doesn't want to single Grand Slam something that and then it gave me it gave me confidence that maybe I could do it in singles and and obviously I went really close but yeah I think that's the one thing they're always going to say you talk at some point all this pressure all this judgment know because at one point you were like considered like the bad boy of tennis no you could see some anger Court was it really affecting you on the mental side it was affecting me because I think that I'm not that bad to be honest like I think on the court I'm very um I don't know I CH I it's like I change movie it's yeah exactly like I'm very calm and I like to have fun I'm not very serious off the court and as soon as I step on the court I become so angry almost I don't know it's very very weird but yeah because the reputation that was building off the court you know when I meet people in back in Australia they look at me and they think I'm crazy on the street they're just like looking at me and I'm just like a normal person and obviously my team and people that I know on the tour like they know that I'm quite normal and nice so um it's been hard to have that reputation all the time okay I mean it helps with commentating and stuff but sometimes exactly as a brand probably you're more appealing in some way because you're different cor it have an impact on your on your mental health of course it was it was hard for me because I knew that I wasn't that person that they were telling everyone I was all the time it was hard did you try to change this part of you to put a mask on when you were on court to like stop all those people to say those kind of things um it was hard because I actually just I think I did it a little bit more sometimes I think when I went on court I always wanted to do a show I always wanted to play and I always wanted to put on crazy like even if it was good or bad I always wanted people to go home saying that was amazing or that was [ __ ] crazy like I wanted either one I was okay I was and then now in 2022 when I was playing and I was had a great season I think I found the balance more of winning and and and having fun and being normal but it was probably the hardest thing in my career was finding that balance okay you had to look for outside help in order to like first being P know with you being different and second all the Judgment yeah I've seen probably seven psychologists okay um but I think I don't think it was a problem mentally I think when people were saying you need to go see help they thought it was so different and so crazy that they thought on it but it was actually just me and I just had to like find the right way to to do it you know I I I how do you do it um well I think sometimes it was affecting my me the ability to win you know I'd go out there I'd be winning and then I'd be hitting ridiculous shots and talking to the crowd and I lose my concentration end up losing the match mhm where it was I'd you know talk to the crowd on Match Point that was it it wasn't all through the match and it wasn't like I wasn't drinking a beer on the side of the court or something it was just like maybe we just pull it back a little bit mhm but I still enjoyed it and I think that was a good thing about the sport was because when I found the balance it was really enjoyable to watch think the fact that I was played a slam final with Novak at wimon is crazy cuz we're so different but now we're like friends and it's it's amazing and and I get to hit with him and help him and it's pretty cool I want to hear more about it no because until the final it looked there was like some tension and now you you became like a kind of no best you you seem to have a very good relationship seeing your practice there yeah it's it's it's crazy um I never thought that I'd be really good friends with Noak jovic like at all and it's not just at the court it's like text each other we send ridiculous like mes and all this stuff on Instagram um you think he's like also like I me in the same way as you that like people judge him like for being some way but maybe when you get to know him it's a great guy maybe yeah yeah he's he's a great guy and I think the pressure and the consistency in his career and even you know Caroline's career I think it's so serious and it's so and it's consistent and it has to be it has to be and but when I when I hit with him or when I hang out with him I think he becomes a bit more of a kid and he enjoys just like letting his playful side out and I think yesterday he was you know we were warming up and he's more of a kid than I am he's playing these games and he's like no nick one more game one game I'm like this guy's like a child but um no it's crazy I think ever since that Co happened and I I stood up for him um and the whole country was going crazy against me as well I was like we can't treat someone like this but yeah I think that was the start of all of this and I mean he's on the cord and he's pointing to me in the commentary box I'm like focus focus proba know something we're trying to explore on their podcast finding some fun like tennis is a complicated lifestyle and finding some ways to enjoy your your time a bit it's going to probably help you also perform as long as you're training hard taking care of your body I mean compatible it's true that also when he arrived kind of on tour he was doing you know all the imitation of talk so at the beginning is probably someone quite relaxed had like for him maybe the level of feder and Nadal was so high he had to work so hard and become like so perfectionist I agree that he started took a Jud that the he was critized by everything he was doing and even last night like he's yeah you wouldn't say that hogar Ron is like super super super liked everywhere you know he's very sometimes he's crazy sometimes he does crazy things so in last night the whole crowd was nearly on run side so there's still a bit of that with Novak where sure and then at the end he was giving it to the crowd which is crazy I mean then we were to the stadium and for a couple of games I was like but who are they booing yeah because we couldn't understand anything and then we went on Twitter and we understood but if really felt like they were booing so I can understand the Noak position yeah definitely I mean it's it's the same thing whether they're cheering for Rune or booing it's the same thing was very uncomfortable yeah and as you say like 2022 you won the DAV in Australia and that clicked like maybe some Hunger not to to win a slam or or to like climb on the ranks yeah and at your best moment probably know of your tennis career you had to stop um how was it for you I guess it was a big it was very hard um you know I was playing Amazing I think I that year singles record was the second third best on the tour and I was just finding I feel like I was finding the balance like of what was working recovery when I needed to go to sleep just everything was so smooth and easy I was like oh this isn't finally after 10 years I found out what I needed to do and then obviously I had surgery on my knee and then the wrist happened and then it's been really hard the last 10 months has been really really hard um just hitting tennis balls again is is I mean I have to be on the table for an hour and a half then warm up then tape and then it's just very hard to even play tennis now yeah but I think that's part of the sport as well I think every athlete has injuries in every every sport but tennis is so hard like you're traveling every couple of weeks to a different place different diet different time zone different Surfers different balls it's so hard to find any routine and I think yeah athletes get injured and I haven't done the best recovery in my career so I can't be too angry you know it's like I was you know I was partying till 4:00 a.m. then playing and then not sleeping and then just not warming up and then I had 10 good years and now you have injuries where maybe if I did things better they wouldn't happen you're going to look the past oh [ __ ] I could have done this but I can't regret it and I had fun but at the same time like I'm these are the later stages of my career I don't I don't want to play for too much longer maybe one one or two more years mhm so yeah I mean I'm enjoying it like being I guess older on the tour like you got guys like Carlos alarz are 21 winning grand slams and I feel like I've been on the tour now for like 11 12 years I just yeah I mean I think my body can't take much more mhm are you think you're going to come with a different mindset you think the injury taught you something or you still plan to have like the same Balanced Life not training like a crazy person I think I have to be a bit more like professional professional and consistent with my training I can't because if I hit for 2 hours now if I don't get physio on my wrist it's it's not possible to play again the next day so there's so many things now where I have to change I can't I mean there was a time where I would play my match at wimon and then I'd be at the pub till 4:00 a.m. and then playing Nadal the next day with no warm up I mean full of energy not possible no that's not possible anymore I don't think okay maybe I don't think so do you think you will come back with a different mindset when you will come back to the tour yeah I think so I'm not going to I think from this injury it's not fair to come back and expect to win Grand Slam straight away like not possible it's just not possible I can feel my level in training it's maybe not where it was but it's in it's a it's getting better every day but my mindset and I think someone like Dominic team who's retiring this year is it shows how hard a wrist surgery is and he's not he's playing well he's just not I think his expectation when he came back was I want to still win Grand Slams right away and he was struggling a little bit in challenges and then maybe won a match here or there but then it and then the media says oh Dominic team's not the same and then it just it overwhelms him and it's like okay I'm I'm I'm finished where for me I'm going to set the not not as high I'm just want to come back have fun and if I'm able to come back and play at that level and just compete that's a bonus for me and anything else is is it something that worries you though like the fact that maybe you have your expectations low but probably like the audience commentators now are going to expect the before yeah you think you can handle that uh well I don't know if I can handle it but I'm I'm ready for the criticism and uh his back and and all the hype but MH I think I've had a lot of success as an athlete so I'm okay with maybe coming back and not being good enough I'm okay with that because that's normal every athlete goes through it everyone and my window of success was a lot bigger than most other people and I think her window of success has been amazing if you look back at the career most tennis players don't have this success so it's I guess selfish for me to come back and I want to be grand slam again like I want it might not happen that's it's true that people will think it's because you're talented but there's like so many other things not than just being with the it's not fair that because someone is able to play Crazy shots or amazing you just expect him to be able to combination of many things time especially on Grand Slam where it's seven matches maybe you will win one match because of your talent but one day you will be playing so bad you will have to win because of your Fitness I mean I lost I lost I mean I played a qualifier first round of Winwood in that year and I played so bad and I won 75 in the fifth and it was like the worst match of my life and then somehow made the final yeah yeah so no it's not I mean I think car you're like a living proof of it now you've been like uh 15 years trying to chase it no you're super talented you work as hard as anyone but still like it's not it's not that because you want it you're going to get it straight away yeah it's very very hard how how important for you it's been or it's going to be like for now for you to have other things besides tennis you think help um I think it's amazing because athletes when they retire they struggle I mean you look at Andy Murray as the example right you have someone who he's achieved everything you could possibly achieve in the sport I don't know what else he wants to do mhm um and his body now is just not allowing him to play at all he can't walk properly and I think for him he's got so many options of what he could do anything tomorrow he could decide to do anything and enjoy that be with family or anything so for me it was important to create things whilst I was playing because I know that I wasn't going to play Forever mhm um and you know I have so many cool things that I love doing now and I wake up and it's not just tennis and I think that keeps me going and this will be something for you guys in the future that it's it's passionate it's still about tennis but it's not playing and we're not going to be able to play forever so athletes need to have something else otherwise they think they struggle after their career is finished um since when have you been working on all these kind of site projects because before the injury you were already know like uh at least investing lot of your time on Hobbies St right yeah I was doing a lot of different things and I think when I was injured my my agent and and Stu and and and the evolved team I took some inspiration from Naomi she's always doing so many things and I don't know how she does it um but then I was like I have so much time now I'm s I'm having surgeries I'm I'm able to do things and yeah that's when I was like I have to be proactive in creating all these other things because my tennis window is not going to be open forever and I don't want to I could coach maybe like actually but not like not not like in a in a little academy like I'd coach someone on the tour maybe I don't know but yeah yeah exactly maybe like eight weeks you SL I I do two only slimes four slimes King Captain Maybe one yeah that would be that would be cool yeah for sure that'd be fun I mean I think it would bring lot of good bubes not to Australian team yeah that would be crazy yeah I would do it yeah during the injury there were like some moments where you thought you might not be able to back yes 100% there was maybe 6 months after my surgery it was I wasn't able to swing without pain and I wasn't able to do like anything and I was like this is not possible like there's no way I'm going to come back and play and then I kept going I kept going then about 8 n months later I started feeling pretty good like I had a lot of lot of improvement that was a long ride though in want yeah it was I mean this has been 10 months now since the surgery so about only a month and a half ago I started feeling actually pretty good on court like back to normal and I was like there's there's a chance and then now I've started serving again and it's coming on well I hit with Novak um sorry uh two times this in the last week and and he said we can't tell that you've had the surgery so it's been huge confidence um but yeah I had I had so many times where I was like this is it I'm not going to play again and I was okay with it like it was hard for me but I was like I can't be mad at myself you know my body like I mean you can see it's like quite big wow so um and does it scare you now I mean me I never had a long long-term injury I think you did Nei does it scare you when you're trying to work like back into yeah like I know it's like a tricky question but I guess it has must have some kind of know like in your brain must be somewhere like I hope it I don't relapse right away or it's yeah for sure I mean I go on court now and I have to type it warm up and I can feel it but it's it's holding like it's it's I have to trust the the surgery and you have to trust the the the work that the rehab and um it's scary because now my days are not I don't even think about playing anymore it's just training it's like rehab for it's been like this for like a year and a half yeah just like waking up gym rehab try and hit for an hour hour and a half and then like wait to see the next day there's no yeah and it's like I'm in training and Rehab phase now this is my at the moment and I I can't think about playing yet because there's so many things like I only can hit 70 serves and in a match I could hit 500 so I need to build that load up as well so you don't have too much visibility yeah I I I I I I don't think I can at the moment I I think I have to take it day by day well that the good thing of taking it day by day it will probably like instill some kind of gratitude now when you're able to come back and you were talking in your episode that when you had to stop and you were a bit unclear now if the pain would at some point go out away yeah and after when you came back it was like the best four months of your career no you won a couple of 1000s the finals so yeah because you kind of miss miss it like and I wanted to play the way I like tennis to be play be aggressive and everything and I was like I was not sure like I will be like kind of walking without pain so playing is great and uh what can I do you know I just have fun my ranking went low so who cares three months you know you went 100 to number four in the world winners taking the taking the pressure out of you for sure can be helpful yeah and you just going through that injury for even four months is a long time MH I mean mine seems like so I don't even but I don't even I'm not even thinking about it like that it's just like I'm back on court now so then I kind of forget about the last six months I'm like back on court then it will just like happen I think so that's good and through your career you expressed suffering a lot from mental issue not issue but Health there were there were issues it's okay they were big issues and how important was your team and around you huge I think um I was going through crazy crazy things um and it was actually here where um I was I lost I don't know first or second round and I was I was partying for like 4 days straight and it was not it wasn't good like and my dad was here and then one morning I woke up and it was like 3:00 p.m. or something and my dad was like crying and he was just like like you have to stop all this like it has to stop because it was just it was out of control it was like so toxic and um detrimental and then it was yeah at Wimbledon I kind of was like all right I have to try and start turning this around and I don't know where I honestly don't even know where I would be without my family and my team like they were the ones that were always trying to say like I think I wasn't okay with like my career and I was always like not reaching where what other people wanted me to reach and then I was like I'm actually having fun I'm enjoying myself and I'm had I've had a good career and once I realized that my team was very supportive and they were like just have some fun enjoy and I was back to normal and it took about a year and a half to not be feeling like [ __ ] every day like I hated waking up and going to the courts and being nios like I hated it and now it's it's amazing like it's to see how much I've turned around since 2019 was was crazy like it was nuts was it easy for you to convince your family and team that you didn't want doesn't matter if you are able or not to win 10 15 runs L that you didn't wanted to do that was it easy for them to accept that you just want to enjoy tennis of course when you're there you're there to win you don't want to go the extra mile like behind the curtain right well originally I I think that they wanted me to do to win Grand Slams and they realized how dark I got and how upset and I wasn't myself I was just I would I wouldn't message my family for like I didn't message them for months on and like I wouldn't talk to anyone I'd be so internal I would take all my problems on my own and um yeah it was hard like aapco the 500 that I won it was the darkest week of my life like it was really bad I was self Haring like I was thinking about suicide and then I won the tournament and like the media was like he won the tournament is this the new Nick curios and it was the worst I'd ever been and then when I realized winning is not going to fix this like I was so unhappy and I was you know I be R for that week have like played amazing but it was so bad like that was the worst week of my life and I knew that winning was only going to make everyone else think that I was okay but I knew I wasn't okay so then I had to fix it and I think I I had to go through that because now I love like I put on my Instagram if people that are just struggling or they're really really struggling just just talk like I was so afraid to talk to someone and even my family I thought that me coming home to my family and telling him that I was struggling was like a weak thing to do and I was scared mhm um but yeah it was the best thing I did and now I got out of that that hole and it was it was really good yeah it's it's true especially for men I think now we are like or the the previous generations were kind of raised into you have to keep it by for yourself you don't have to show vulnerability know and it's true that at some moment you have to raise your hand and say I can do it by myself and or just just by saying it just by showing your vulnerability know it will it will already help you to accept who you are and ask for help you yeah yeah but also like by being very popular winning a lot of money there is people who will always tell you you're not in the position to complain correct that yeah that was part of and sometimes even you like you feel bad about yourself but having those moments for having such a great life you compareed to only what you know so yeah that's true yeah because what people don't see know as you were saying is people see like the price morning people see the the amazing cours no and the the amazing in the Theory lifestyle but tennis is a complicated lifestyle at the end 90% of the time out of home you never sleep at home you never get to see your family that much you miss weddings you miss funerals as Danny Collins was saying the other day yeah it's how was it for you because as you say you love tennis yeah but how easy was for you to like follow the tennis tour it super hard I mean from Australia as well it was it was almost impossible and I loved being home I loved being in my um my family my dogs like I love being home and just having this simple Simplicity of waking up and and enjoying it and my mom throughout my careers she's been really sick so she hasn't been always been able to travel so I knew that when I was playing you know her health was an issue and it was just hard cuz I always wanted to be home but then I'd have to stay on the road for like seven months like early in my career was like seven eight months in a row straight away from home yeah that's what people don't see yeah and I think I really struggled with that cuz it was like by the end of the year and I think that Infamous like Tau him in Shanghai where I was like I just like sh like popped the serve and I walked to the chair that was like 7 months in a row and I was like I just wanted to go home MH um and I think when I wanted to go home so bad that's when I started you know maybe not trying as hard and people were just like firing at that stage and I was like you know not everyone when they go to work they give their best effort all the time but for me I was like obviously on the tennis court it was it was really bad and nobody worked seven months in a row correct correct and it was just like it was hard yeah traveling from Australia even now like 2 weeks on the road I'm like I think I want to go home is it something you're going to like take into consideration when you come back like having a more balanced uh year season definitely I think in 2022 I didn't play that much I played I don't play the French Open that's because that's why not because I I dislike clay I mean I don't mind clay but it's if I play the F if I play the clay Court season and the French Open all the way out to you like to us it's like it's way too long for me and I know that by the time I get to wimon which is my best chance mhm and US Open my best also my best chance I'm going to be just gone mentally I won't be I'll be burnt out you know so I have to miss that I'm sorry French Open but I have to miss that period because then I'm fresh for the back yeah that's that's it cuz I played the French Open and I enjoyed it I played okay I played all right MH and to have the chance to be traveling with your partner does the best does it helps you to find the stability the feeling of being home even away yeah I think I I wouldn't have that that year in 2022 if it wasn't also for my partner you know she just having them around and supporting you and you come off the court and you win or lose and they're just like they just you know give you a hug and they just say it's a great effort like that the balance is is huge you know we were enjoying life together you know traveling around the world with your partner I think is is the best one of the best parts about the the job I think you you look at all the other couples that work so hard all all throughout the week just to have a little holiday every now and then and me and my partner we get to travel the world and yesterday we went to the city for a couple hours like we're walking through London then I'm hitting with Nova it's just a it's a good feeling to be able to do these things and share these memories mhm but yeah I loved it you know I lost the final against Novak in the Grand Slam and she was the first one just said what a amazing two weeks you know like even though I was so angry you don't care about exactly and then she just is not going to love you more you have a trophy at home exactly and she doesn't really know too much about tennis either so she's just standing in front of me with a smile like well good effort and I'm like it was so much fun to watch like no you know what thanks like it just like made me forget really quickly and it was good um yeah it was were you proud of yourself after after losing the final not right after losing the no good progress at the end I think it was more of a relief I think the relief to just say wow we we've made it this far and if I if I think if I won the grand slam it wouldn't be so much for me it' be for everyone else just like here take your grand slam and then just like leave me alone now you know the the the relief about just almost getting that close and then now they're like still hasn't one against you're doing this on the other way know with communicating with showing and sharing your journey your struggles know like that's another way of saying like people hey you know like exactly the explan like also like in your face you saw that were judging too easy correct correct yeah that's I think that's my motivation still is I still there's so many people that are criticizing still I just want to if I win one I think that that's it retire will tell you we don't block yeah you have a clear idea of what you want to do next after tennis um clear idea H I don't have a clear idea but I think I'll be doing always something um I mean I'd love to do commentating and broadcasting for a long long time mhm um and obviously I'm I have my own you know talk show as well which is which is going yeah you can do a little promotion for people who don't know yeah it's it's just yeah good trouble it's it's been a lot of fun um it's been scary you know I did Mike Tyson was scary um but yeah it's there there's I think there's a lot of things I think I'll be always be involved with tennis in some way though it's just such a big part of our life where it's hard to just completely not be involved you know I I really enjoy commentating and whether it's it's female whether it's male whether it's doubles I love watching this I love watching and breaking down the sport and I think I can add something in that side of the sport I think to grow it as well you you you watch sport you watch soccer you watch anything the commentating is a huge part of definitely sport I mean we were talking about it the other day we were watching Euro club and it was mute and I was saying like can follow a match it's mute you know I get distracted on the window I really need someone passionate talking about and and and that's exactly because when I'm watching these tennis matches I'm so passionate and sometimes they're like just calm down I'm like no I don't want to calm down I'm so into it and I think tennis needs that a little bit I think that's one part where tennis is you you have three people in the commentary box and they're like oh great shot it's like yeah was a great shot but why was it a great shot like the inside the footwork there's so many different things that I can I think comment on yeah someone not scared to say the wrong thing right yeah I mean I'm not going to say crazy stuff like no F wordss and but I'm going to say like you know I love watching it but getting into like like what is happening no Isen and who's playing why is like joov behaving doing what he's doing it's good to have like The Insider The Insider vision of what what's going on Match I love to watch matches with you I feel I really understand what's going on better yeah it's way better yeah also to bring new generation tager to follow tennis you have to bring something different of course and then for me like commentating like tennis is crazy because people don't even know that like you shower you eat with your people that then you have to walk on court in front of thousands of people it's that is a crazy thing in sport like you don't see the other person before you play in any other sport but tennis it's like me and meev are just showering and then we're eating together and then we're going to go play fourth round of Us open I mean it's it's doesn't make sense and then you shake hands hate each other and then I see him again I'm like right there it's no it's insane mhm being now be like from the outside commentating do you think Chinese needs to evolve yeah I think or adapt it's a in a very I mean on the side it's in a very strange time because Novak is still very good but he's on the later stages of his career and obviously I never thought there would be a time where raer and Roger would be finished it just happened I'm like it's crazy I thought they were always going to be there and now it's in a in a period where the the the new generation is definitely coming through C and alra are unbelievable players um but it's the I think I actually think the depth of the draw isn't as good as it used used to be I think the top like 40 guys I think top like 20 are very very good and then it kind of just like drops off a little bit mhm um where there was a time where the top 20 players in the world and men's were all unbelievable you had s like mon Rain Bird chillit Del potra all these n all these crazy players um so yeah it's in a very it's in a different stage I think I think it is evolving but it's going to be interesting once Novak leaves on the men's side because I don't think it's going to be as popular I don't think in the format what do you think about it you think it's like I think Grand Slams you have to keep as the five sets definitely um there needs to be more team events I think for ladies as well there has to be like something like La cup should be definitely I think team events moving forward are huge because like it's much easier to follow a team than it is to follow one player especially with tennis all year round it's not it's not possible um but what do you think about a new format like UTS I think yeah UTS is amazing and we've played some of those um Team events later in the year and I think it works well it just needs to be organized correctly and I think it's I think it's awesome I think mixed doubles I actually think is amazing because you it's like not not any other sport has that like where they mix and they're competing for money on the biggest stage and I think if someone like yourself plays with Novak one time in mixed doubles like that you could never see that any other sport true and that's really cool I think you saw it in the United C you had the me playing against you and it was and for the fans I think that's cool cuz their favorite female player can play with their favorite male player and you never you can never see that in any other sport so I think actually mixed doubles is very important to keep the sport growing cuz like me playing with Venus here one year or me playing with Serena like that was crazy and I never thought you wouldn't be able to say that anywhere else who do that says a lot good stuff about the women in the sport me I I think it's uh in many many sports uh like in football basketball the ball like the size of the ball is different the same in in tennis uh it's all always the same and you you have to cover the same C so like I would rather see at Indian Wells at the Masters events I don't want there to be doubles I think just mixed doubles and singles cuz mixed doubles would be at these Masters events would be incredible World mixed doubles would be so good and there' be more people watching I think well this year they already did the Invitational mixed dou minutes so like no one didn't really know so no one really entered but uh I I played and I had a lot of fun yeah and then you can put the prize money from the men's doubles into the mixed doubl I want to jump on this why do you think there should not be men's or women's doues only well just because if there's mixed doubles at every event I think to grow the sport I think you get better content I think you get more funny moments on the court 100% that's definit like when I was playing with Serena I was she was like she wanted to serve first and I was like are you sure you want to serve first and she's like yeah I was like okay like that like just things like this you would get so many so many cool things like yeah I think you especially in France imagine playing with like M Fe at a grant like at a master's event like it would be just insane it would be so much better for the sport because you don't see it in like you would never see Lebron James playing with another female B player and and for and the feel the pressure like mixed dou I feel the pressure I got so tight I get so tight when I'm returning oh you're playing with exactly and it's like that's that's cool tennis has to use that I think yeah it's a good point it's a good I like it like to evolve anyway if I had to change something yeah I think we're getting kind of close to the end I would really love to you had a crazy story in tennis what advice would you give give to your younger self imagine you're 15 again what do you tell to your young Nick um well I would one part of me would say to not play mhm well that's one part I would say maybe go play basketball and do something completely different because there's been so many positives for my career but the amount of stress and and negativity that I dealt with and I went to that period of my life where it was I didn't know whether I was going to get out of it and I didn't really want to you know be alive almost so um on the second time I would just say don't ever get on social media and don't ever you know more not social media but try not to listen to the outside noise as much I think I was very sensitive like I came on tour at 19 uh 17 and I was so sensitive to negative comments and positive comments I was so up and down like one day I was like okay I'm I'm doing okay and then I'd see comments and I'm like I would be so concerned about trying to have this image of I I wanted to be just I took it very personally and that's what I would just say not take it too personally just have fun and enjoy it sometimes sometimes we ask sorry um if one day you have a kid would you like him to be a tennis player no absolutely not no way if if I have a son he's not playing tennis but if I have a daughter then I think I will put her in tennis okay because I think I could coach I wouldn't be able to coach my son I don't think I think he would be worse than me not listening he'd be just smashing rackets I'll be like I'm finished like I don't want to but I don't I don't want him to go through similar things that I went through but I think I think I could coach my daughter have a good slice good slide like ash like Ash and I think um no I think I would like I want my do I've told my partner I want our daughter's going to play tennis but our son's not nice yeah yeah um you have a foundation yeah for many years now and you have been helping a lot yeah um how important is it for you to be able to do this yeah I think as I think athletes if you become an athlete like us and we have a chance to help I think it's our it's it's a responsibility that we have to have and we have to use and you I think it was maybe what year I think it was 200 about 2016 where I was doing all these hospital visits in I think it was in marsill actually and the tournament you know selected me and I went went there and I was like okay this is the time where I wanted to um you know do my own thing back home in Australia and try and help so I mean I love it there's nothing better than going and and holding like a big foundational day at the tennis courts and all these kids are you know whether they're you know in good health or they don't have you know much time left just to give them that moment that they won't ever forget is is so powerful I think that's the best thing about our career is how much we can help kids and and give them like hope or Inspire them to just have fun and chase their dreams mhm it's really good like I would I was bringing kids out before my Australian Open matches I'd bring them out on court in front of like a thousand people and they didn't have much time left they were they were very sick but that the 30 minutes like the crowd was chanting and they were crazy and and almost they were struggling to breathe sometimes they were like I have to like calm down but the rush that that was giving was so powerful and it was it was cool some of the best moments of my career but um yeah I think we have to give back I think that's what it's about that's yeah on doing it yeah it's cool I enjoy it it's fun and then um yeah last question y um we usually ask uh which uh who which players would you like to have in the podcast one man and one women for you guys moving forward yeah and then tricky there's like a trick behind you have to help us bring them I'm talking no I mean I would like it can be like actual or for I would like you to do no back okay well this you can I can I can help for sure good story and I think you should oh you've done that Emy already that would have been that would have been good um female I think you should do Ash part yeah we tried yeah yeah Ash part would be cool but she's so she she's very priv to reach and yeah she is she is private maybe maybe Le should do like maybe or something because she's going through a lot at the moment yeah yeah there is so many great stories there but no for sure yeah we love it we went to see uh the match yesterday on CER courot he looked good yesterday and it's true that sometimes when you see live you see everything that happen and sometimes on TV they only do a zoom on on specific action and you're like oh maybe is too much but then when you see all around you understand much better and he's actually a cal player most of the time yeah yeah he is but you can understand why he was angry yesterday it was it was I mean but give him a he's going to respond resp that's why I don't understand why they give him a reason all the time if I'm playing Novak I don't want to give him any like more motivation like if he's having a bad day just leave him alone yeah and as soon as they started doing that he was like more motivated as soon as I happened I was like it's done Dan cins was sharing also good stuff about this that she needs to pick up a fight with someone in this St in order to perform because she plays with passion so sometimes if she feels a bit low she will find someone in the box of the oppon or some that that clip where she's like have some respect remember in this is unbelievable thank you very much all the best on your course hopefully see you soon yes both of you of course thank you thank you so much no worries I hope you enjoyed this conversation as much as I did thank you very much for listening to our podcast stay tuned for our next episodes and in the meantime it would mean the world to us if you can hit the Subscribe button on the platform where you're listening to our podcast and also if you can leave a positive review it will help us reach new people thank you very much and see you soon see you soon