OTW Extra Email Archive - January 2020
The making of the man?
Wednesday 8th January 2020
In your Ones to Watch EXTRA email today:
Nick Kyrgios – the team player...
At this week’s inaugural ATP Cup event, host nation Australia are into the quarter finals. Lleyton Hewitt’s team produced a dominant performance to top Group F, winning all nine of their matches.
Those three 3-0 victories – against Germany, Canada and then Greece – included a clean sweep of Singles wins for Australia’s star players, Alex De Minaur and Nick Kyrgios...
Both those young men featured in our ‘Ones to Watch’ lists last year.
De Minaur was in our Ones to Watch in 2019 report. And Alex is our 80/1 early-bird pick for this month’s Australian Open.
Kyrgios was in our notes for Wimbledon last summer. And Nick has started 2020 with a good look about him...
The camaraderie and good spirits in the Aussie camp were evident in the Group F medal winner presentation on Tuesday, with the team audibly cheering out each other’s nicknames and all smiles with captain Hewitt.
Team Australia will now move on from Brisbane to the Sydney venue, where they will face Tim Henman’s Great Britain for a place in the final four.
Play starts in that tie at 11pm tonight (UK time), with Cameron Norrie scheduled to take on Kyrgios in the opener...
The making of the man?
He’s still only 24 years of age, but there have been many false dawns in Nick Kyrgios’ career...
From a teenage Wimbledon breakthrough, beating Rafael Nadal to reach the quarter finals in 2014 – then only reaching one other Grand Slam quarter final since. To starting the 2018 season by winning the first tournament of the year in Brisbane, only to then drift down the rankings again through injury and ill-discipline... before returning to finals in 2019 with title wins at ATP Acapulco and Washington...
This supremely talented, enigmatic and erratic player has many detractors. But I’m happy for him to let the tennis do the talking, and Nick has shown a few signs in the last 12 months or so that he really has got the head – as well as the game – to do big things in this sport.
While fitness issues may still hamper him in the seven-match, best-of-five sets run needed to win a Grand Slam tournament over a two-week period, on his day Nick always has a chance and the ability to beat the best.
Last November, ahead of representing Australia in the Davis Cup Finals, we noted that Kyrgios had seemed to thrive in the team format at the Laver Cup in September.
It’s visible again this week at the ATP Cup, with Kyrgios a vocal, enthusiastic and pumped-up presence for Team Australia from the sidelines in support of his teammates – and producing some of his best tennis on court when cheered on by his peers.
Could it be that Nick performs best when he perceives himself being treated as an equal by his team – rather than rebelling against being ‘told what to do’ by a coach? It could well be the case.
Add in the fact that Kyrgios has been a passionate and pro-active voice among the sporting world in the Australian bushfires relief campaign – frequently using the phrase that this is a cause ‘bigger than tennis’ – and this talented young man might just have found a way to ground himself and really mature as a professional.
One thing’s for sure – he’s a great tennis player. And great tennis players win more matches than they lose. I’ll be keeping Nick Kyrgios firmly on our Ones to Watch radar this year.
Kenin, Gauff and Anisimova in action...
Over Christmas I sent out my new report featuring 10 players to follow this season, Ones to Watch in 2020.
In each of the last two years, one of our annual Ones to Watch listed players has made it to a final in the very first week of the season...
In 2018, Katerina Siniakova (22/1) came runner-up at WTA Shenzhen. Then 12 months ago, Daniil Medvedev finished runner-up at ATP Brisbane (14/1).
From our new batch of 2020 names, three of the young American women on the list are in action this week at the first tournaments on the WTA 2020 calendar...
Amanda Anisimova is through to the quarter finals at WTA Auckland. On Thursday evening (UK time), the 18-year-old will take on our old friend Eugenie Bouchard for a place in the semi finals.
Also in Auckland, 15-year-old One to Watch Coco Gauff lines up this evening (11pm) against 31-year-old Laura Siegemund – with the prize a place in the quarter finals.
Gauff started her season with a confident straight-sets win in round one, coming through 6-3, 6-1 against the slightly higher-ranked 21-year-old, Viktoria Kuzmova.
Over at the WTA Brisbane event, Sofia Kenin was an impressive 2-0 winner in her 1st round match, taking out the tricky Anastasija Sevastova.
Things won’t get any easier, with World No.4 Naomi Osaka up next. Kenin won their last meeting though, at Cincinnati in 2019, which was also their only encounter to date on hard courts. It should be a good match. Osaka v Kenin is scheduled for around 9am Thursday morning.
This season Amazon Prime Video have got all of the WTA tennis. I’ll be tuning in for those three matches over the next 24 hours, for sure.
Coming soon – my new season challenge...
The Australian Open will be here before you know it. The first Grand Slam of the year starts on 20th January.
Ahead of that huge tournament, I’ll be in touch with details of something I’ve got up my sleeve for this year’s tennis...
I’m calling it my 2020 Challenge. There will be some BIG odds involved. And I’ll be inviting you to take part. More on that soon...
Enjoy the tennis...
Best wishes,
Tom Wilson