After the on-court dramas at Wimbledon, tennis observers weren’t expecting the talented Nick Kyrgios to be back in the news so quickly. So it’s a surprise to some, that the Australian is back courting the headlines again.
His on-court sledge to Stan Wawrinka appears to have shocked the tennis world. And if it was anyone else but Kyrgios, then it’s unlikely to have created such a storm.
In a lot of sports, an insulting sledge is part and parcel of the mental games. Employed strategically to gain edge and throw your opponent off balance. So unto itself, it’s of no consequence.
For Nick Kyrgios it creates a story line for people to judge him by. And that unto itself may be the trigger for him to ugrade his mental game. As the body of evidence seems to suggest that Nick Kyrgios’s emotional development is not yet in sync with his talent.
The reality is, emotional development can be slow in any human. Maturation is not always a quick process. For some it happens with age. Others mature through the stability of marriage. For others the starting of a family brings emotional responsibiity. Each person is different. Some people don’t emotionally mature until the later years. For tennis players who have been involved in the game from a very young age, and thus deprived of a ‘normal’ childhood, emotional maturity can take longer than most.
Of course there are things to do that can help accelerate such a development. But maybe Nick Kyrgios doesnt feel the need to change anything yet. Perhaps he is happy to bide his time…let his emotions play themselves out naturally…and wait for things to settle according to time.
If he operates at a high level of discipline and devotion to the sport, then the emotional system will eventually balance it out, as the hunger and desire to become a champion outweighs the love of entertaining and crown engagement. And in time harmony will occur between talent, emotions and ambition.
Then the Australian will be making the headlines he will have dreamed of growing up. But when that will be remains for now in the realms of uncertainty.