NICK KYRGIOS’ mum credits her son’s Wimbledon success to ditching video games.
Kyrgios has made it to the final at SW19 after Rafael Nadal withdrew from his scheduled semi-final with the Aussie hothead due to abdominal issues.
The 27-year-old’s mother Nill claims the reason he reached his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon is that he now enjoys life more by leaving his hotel room instead of getting cooped up playing video games.
Nick changed his ways at the Australian Open as he started “doing things” with his down time and has shown the same new outlook in London as he finally visited Big Ben.
She said: “It was so hard for us to get him to do anything.
“He was happy to sit in his room and play video games all the time. His shoulder would hurt him from how much he would play.
“In Beijing, we wanted him to walk the Great Wall of China with us. Who wouldn’t, right?
“But Nick wouldn’t go. He was happy to sit in his room and order in, that’s what worried me.
“I remember in Canada we said, ‘Let’s go to Niagara Falls’. He wouldn’t even go there.
“I actually went on my own on the tour bus. Nick wouldn’t want to do those things.
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“He’s finally appreciating where he is, that’s the best thing about this. There’s such a difference now, I see it on his [Instagram] stories.
“It’s probably the first time he’s been to Big Ben. All the time he’s been to London, he hasn’t gone anywhere. Since the Australian Open this year, he has started doing some things.
“He now understands that life doesn’t revolve around tennis. No one expects him to be like that. You have to enjoy your life. I’m really happy he is now.”
Kyrgios is set to face either Novak Djokovic or Cameron Norrie in the final at Wimbledon on Sunday.
