Todd Woodbridge says Nick Kyrgios’ incredible performance at Wimbledon should show a group of young Australian players anything is possible.
World No.144 Kyrgios toppled top-ranked Rafael Nadal in one of the great grand slam upsets on Tuesday to become the first man in a decade to reach the last eight on debut.
Only earlier this month, Kyrgios lost in straight sets to 185th-ranked compatriot John-Patrick Smith in the first round of a grasscourt Challenger event.
Doubles legend and Tennis Australia mentor Woodbridge says the likes of Smith, James Duckworth, Luke Saville and Thanasi Kokkinakis should get a boost from seeing what Kyrgios has achieved.
“It’s excellent for Australian tennis,” Woodbridge said.
“It’s a buzz for all the guys that have been playing with Nick because there’s guys that have beaten him recently from Australia.
“It’s a new push for about six to eight young men in Australia to really get our claws back into men’s tennis.”
Woodbridge was blown away by Kyrgios’ composed performance to beat Nadal.
“That was the most extraordinary tennis I’ve seen from a teenager maybe since the likes of Pete Sampras when he kind of made his statement on tour,” Woodbridge said.
Australian tennis legend John Newcombe also likened Kyrgios’ emergence to that of Sampras’ and was particularly taken aback by the teenager’s serving performance.
Kyrgios lost just four points on serve in the first set while he had remarkable 93 per cent first-serve accuracy in the fourth set.
“That was an incredible performance,” three-time Wimbledon champion Newcombe said.
“Nadal didn’t play badly – he played really well.
“Every time he tried to raise the bar, Nick went with him.”