Nick Kyrgios insists he’s happy riding solo without a coach for a while, as he reunites with family in Australia following his turbulent Wimbledon campaign.
Kyrgios will spend four to five days in Canberra with his family, including his ailing grandfather, before heading to Darwin for Australia’s Davis Cup quarter-final against Kazakhstan from July 17-19.
Despite the storm that surrounded his heavily criticised fourth-round loss to Frenchman Richard Gasquet, the 20-year-old says he’s not “too fussed” about finding a coach to replace the sacked Todd Larkham.
“I think I’m doing pretty well without one,” he told the Seven Network after touching down at Sydney Airport on Wednesday night.
“I’ve got a great team around me, obviously a strength and conditioner, my dad came.
“I feel good riding solo for a little bit and we’ll just see what happens.”
Kyrgios seemed unfazed about the drama that dogged his Wimbledon exit and indicated he doesn’t have any regrets.
“Not at all, I thought it was a pretty emotional couple of weeks, obviously physically as well,” he said.
“I’m feeling it a little bit, I mean I thought it was a pretty successful couple of weeks as well.
“It was tough reading those things every day, but you think it’s part of it now.”
He also played down fears he’s considering quitting tennis despite admitting he doesn’t love the sport.
“Andre Agassi didn’t love the sport,” he said.
“I think you know, I still like it to some degree. I still like going out there and enjoying it, the crowd and competing.
“I don’t think I’ll put down the racquet anytime soon.”
Kyrgios’ laid-back attitude towards finding a new coach hasn’t stopped others making suggestions.
Australian Davis Cup captain Wally Masur said he should make a play for Roger Rasheed following the tough task master’s split with Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov.
Kyrgios sacked Larkham on the eve of Wimbledon after parting ways with Simon Rea after last year’s championships.
Rasheed is a well-respected mentor who also worked with Lleyton Hewitt, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils before spending 20 months with Dimitrov, a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year.
Masur admitted he was biased towards Australian coaches and, ideally, a Tony Roche or Darren Cahill would be among his top preferences.
But with Roche – who has guided grand slam champions Ivan Lendl, Pat Rafter and Hewitt in the past and is also assisting Bernard Tomic – only able to spend around 15 weeks on the road these days, he’s probably not the best fit for Kyrgios.
Cahill helped Hewitt become the youngest men’s world No.1 and then Andre Agassi to become the oldest, but is already committed to commentary and junior coaching and development.
“I’m a bit of a fan of Roger Rasheed. I really think Roger is good. He’s got an interesting personality,” Masur said.
“I think he takes players along for the ride. He works them pretty hard; he’s pretty uncompromising.”
Rafter, Australia’s director of player performance, agrees Kyrgios needs a strong disciplinarian, but most importantly someone the two-time grand slam quarter-finalist can trust.
“The only one who can coach him is a person he wants to listen to,” he said.
