With the best Australian Open preparation under his belt, Nick Kyrgios says he feels like he can make a run deep into the grand slam tournament which starts in Melbourne on Monday.
Kyrgios completed his Open warm-up with a 6-4 6-2 win over Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov at the Kooyong Classic, delivering 13 aces in a commanding performance.
World No.26 Kyrgios became Australia’s highest-ranked male in the draw following the injury-enforced withdrawal of Alex de Minaur on Thursday.
Kyrgios was “shattered” to hear de Minaur had been unable to overcome an abdominal issue to play, crediting his Australian teammates in the ATP Cup for his positive start to the year.
“The ATP Cup was an amazing event, just to spend the first couple of weeks with the boys, some of my closest mates,” he said after his Kooyong win.
“I think we all rub off on each other, we all bring some good energy.”
Kyrgios was a first-round casualty at Melbourne Park last year, with his best result coming in 2015 when he made the quarter-finals.
But he felt like he is playing well enough to again go deep.
“I feel like it’s a new year, a clean slate, but I was putting a lot of work in back home,” the 24-year-old said.
“I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself.
“Looking back at 2019 it was very tough for me on and off the court and this year I want to have a positive outlook on it whether I lose first round or make a run.
“The way I’m playing now I feel like I can make some strides into the tournament.”
He also said his involvement in raising money for victims of the bushfire crisis had been his main focus, and he would be playing next week for that cause as much as himself.
A tweet from Kyrgios during the fires started an avalanche of donations with the tennis community raising almost $5 million.
“It was crazy that a kid from Canberra put out one tweet and it gathered that much traction and within a couple of weeks it was amazing how many people worldwide were willing to help,” he said.
“It’s been an emotional couple of weeks for me.
“All I’m doing and all I’m playing for is that at the moment.”
With a 16-week ATP suspended sentence and fine hanging over his head, which won’t apply during the ITF-run Australian Open, Kyrgios has been on his best behaviour so far this summer.
He said he wanted to be a better role model for kids and would do his best to stay out of trouble during the Open.
“I’ve got to try and control my temper for sure but at the end of the day I’m human,” he said.