Nick Kyrgios still feeling Wimbledon punishment despite Aussie’s sublime Citi Open double

Wimbledon: Novak Djokovic beats Kyrgios in final in July

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The sky is the limit for Nick Kyrgios after the Australian tennis star achieved history at this year’s Citi Open. Or at least it would be if he wasn’t restricted in the rankings due to the recent Wimbledon Championships being a non-points-scoring event.

The London Grand Slam was infamously stripped of its ranking points after the All England Club decided to ban all Russian and Belarusian players from competing. Novak Djokovic and Elena Rybakina still raked in considerable prize money for their respective titles, but both they and men’s runner-up Kyrgios made no movement in the rankings as a result.

Victory in Washington D.C. has taken the Canberran from No. 63 up to 37th in the world, though he would have been 15th if he took his alotted points from Wimbledon. That would have put him on the verge of breaking his career best of world No 13.

But after becoming the first player to win both singles and doubles titles at the Citi Open, Kyrgios—who has won 18 of his last 19 matches—appeared eager to build on a wave of positive change. “It’s just very emotional for me,” he said after winning the singles tournament. “To see where I was at last year to now, it’s just an incredible transformation. I just came out with great energy.

“I knew that I had experience on my side today. I love this court, I’ve played so many good matches here, so I’m just really happy with myself. I’ve been in some really dark places. Just to be able to turn it around…

“There are so many people who have helped me get there. But myself, I’ve shown some serious strength to just continue and persevere and get through all those times and be able to still perform and win tournaments like this one.”

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The recent ascent up the rankings puts Kyrgios in prime position to receive a more beneficial seeding ahead of the U.S. Open. However, he’ll first hope to show even more promise at upcoming ATP events in Montreal and Cincinnati.

After partnering Thanasi Kokkinakis to doubles success in Atlanta, Kyrgios this time teamed up with American Jack Sock to add the Citi Open crown to his credit. Despite having failed to venture beyond the third round at Flushing Meadows thus far in his career, there’s a growing sense this could be the year to instigate change.

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