Nick Kyrgios tipped to win tournament by John McEnroe and Pat Cash after Nadal scalp

[cronus]

Former Wimbledon champions John McEnroe and Pat Cash believe Nick Kyrgios is capable of emulating Boris Becker by winning Wimbledon as a teenager.

The 19-year-old produced one of the greatest upsets in the tournament's history by beating world number one Rafael Nadal in four sets in the round of 16.

Arriving at Wimbledon as the world number 144 and on a wild-card entry to the main draw, the Australian has surpassed all expectations by reaching the quarter-finals.

Three-time champion McEnroe, now commentating at the tournament for the BBC, said Kyrgios had the look of a champion about him as he demolished Nadal's title hopes.

"We've been waiting for this for a while," McEnroe said.

"We keep saying, 'Who's the next guy?', and I think we found that guy right now.

"I've been hearing about this guy for years. I'd only seen him play a little bit.

"But that was absolutely stunning, to see what he did to the world number one.

"How did he keep that up?

"This is where it gets a little tricky. But he actually had this feeling about him.

"I could see it from the commentators' box, that he absolutely believed he was going to win this match, and he's acting to me like he can win this tournament.

"The last guy I saw like this is... Boris Becker, that young teenager, no fear whatsoever - 'no matter what comes my way I'm going to be better than them'."

Becker, at the age of 17, won Wimbledon in 1985, and triumphed again aged 18 and 21.

Australian Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon winner, agreed it was not too much of a stretch to consider Kyrgios a title contender.

"Why not? If he plays like that," Cash said.

"It has a bit of a Boris Becker feel about it.

"A young guy just blasting away. This guy is bringing something to the table that we haven't seen before."​

Source:http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-02/greats-tip-kyrgios-to-win-wimbledon/5565144

 

[irishnadalfan1983]

Are they not completely jumping the gun??!

Have we all not seen this 1 hit wonder before? I wouldn't be surprised if he loses today althought I hope continues to play like ydy and goes on and wins tournament.

 

[Roddick85]

I could see him beating Raonic today, actually not only do I think it's possible, it's something I wish as well

However, I don't see him making it past Federer/Djokovic/Murray.

 

[RFGOAT1992]

Rod Laver predicted that nadal will win the match... he was wrong

take what these guys say with a grain of salt!

but this is pretty unpredictable tournament anything can happen and it would be cool if it did but, its a fat chance(get it?)

 

[jg153040]

Rod Laver predicted that nadal will win the match... he was wrong

take what these guys say with a grain of salt!

but this is pretty unpredictable tournament anything can happen and it would be cool if it did but, its a fat chance(get it?)

True. Just because they are good, they still can't predict the future. Their predictions don't seem to be any better than what most fans here at TW predict.

So having tennis skills isn't correlated with predicting the future, I guess.

Still, I hope they are right.

 

[Brett UK]

Hang on. They are not tipping Kyrgios to win the tournament. They are only going so far as to say he can. This is very different from saying they tip him to be the winner ahead of Djokovic, Murray, etc.

 

[Ralph]

True. Just because they are good, they still can't predict the future. Their predictions don't seem to be any better than what most fans here at TW predict.

So having tennis skills isn't correlated with predicting the future, I guess.

Still, I hope they are right.

Good points, their guesses aren't any better than most of ours.

I would love for Nick to go on and win, but he'll have his work cut out with Novak/Murray, they return better than anyone he has met, and his own return and movement/net play is yet to move to the level needed.

Still, I too hope they are right. I think tennis needs the 'new' man, a new teenager, not a Raonic or Nishikori or Dimitrov who've already been around a few years.

 

[MichaelNadal]

He's going to win Wimbledon eventually, barring a huge disaster.

 

[fednad]

Johnny Mac ... the clown Mac
He changes his mind quicker than a ramp model changes clothes.

 

[Ralph]

Johnny Mac ... the clown Mac
He changes his mind quicker than a ramp model changes clothes.

He wasn't happy seeing Nadal lose yesterday. You could tell during the commentary. He wasn't praising Nick as he played, he was just surprised that he was playing so well and consistently against Nadal on his first venture to Wimbledon Centre court. I used to like Mac, but he's too far up his own @rse now.

 

[jg153040]

Johnny Mac ... the clown Mac
He changes his mind quicker than a ramp model changes clothes.

True. Mac is known for some crazy contradictions and changing his mind.

Didn't Mac say Murray to win 10+ majors?

I haven't figured out yet if this is just Mac so passionate about tennis getting overexcited or just praising every current best player to promote the game. After all he gets money by drawing in more people.

Or maybe he just doesn't think before he says something.

 

[Carsomyr]

Never discount anything - but I think it's a bit premature at this point.

 

[tennisaddict]

He wasn't happy seeing Nadal lose yesterday. You could tell during the commentary. He wasn't praising Nick as he played, he was just surprised that he was playing so well and consistently against Nadal on his first venture to Wimbledon Centre court. I used to like Mac, but he's too far up his own @rse now.

Everytime Nadal was going down , McEnroe would say 'Unbelievable' in a sad way, rather than as a surprise that Krygios is playing well.

He acts like a crazy Nadal fan who wants to eclipse Fed's records hook or crook.

 

[tennis4jags]

He is just ONE MATCH WONDER.. same thing has been talked about while Rosol won and Darcis.. now Nick. Come on guys, let them prove first before coming to conclusion.

 

[Vcore89]

Johnny Mac should smack himself with a racquet after praising how good Nadal is as a volleyer.

 

[The Green Mile]

He is just ONE MATCH WONDER.. same thing has been talked about while Rosol won and Darcis.. now Nick. Come on guys, let them prove first before coming to conclusion.

The difference here is that Rosol and Darcis were 26(nearly 27) and 29 respectively. Nick is only 19. I dont think there jumping the gun here, although i am not surprised by McEnroes comments, he has been hyped a lot lately so yes, we will see.....

 

[OrangePower]

Big difference between "capable" and "likely".

He is capable of winning it all - he has the game, and was mentally strong in the match against Rafa. So it's possible he can do a Becker.

But it's not very likely. Beating several of the top players in a row is just too much to expect a young player to do these days, no matter how promising he is.

 

[Aiko]

I really like Nick. I have been watching him since the Australian Open. Love his game and his attitude. Thrilled that he beat Nadal yesterday, but I think it's a bit early to talk like that.

 

[cknobman]

How is this news?

Is it not well known that John McEnroe and Pat Cash are some of the two biggest bandwagoneers on the planet?

Johnny Mac practically changes his GOAT assessment on a tournament by tournament basis.

 

[dudeski]

JMac is such a Nadal fan that he can't imagine Nadal losing to anyone but an eventual winner. Hello 2012 and 2013? No John Nadal is not the GOAT. Not even close. As a matter of fact now Nadal needs to win USO just to keep up with Fed's total slam count at the same age in 2009. Oh yeah John how is that prediction abut Donald Young working out for you?

 

[RF_fan]

Mac's opinions are irrelevant

 

[LanceStern]

Is that a snake skin on his right arm?

 

[Gonzalito17]

Kyrgios could be running out of mental energy, expended an awful lot vs. Gasquet and Rafa. He's human.

 

[SpicyCurry1990]

True. Mac is known for some crazy contradictions and changing his mind.

Didn't Mac say Murray to win 10+ majors?

I haven't figured out yet if this is just Mac so passionate about tennis getting overexcited or just praising every current best player to promote the game. After all he gets money by drawing in more people.

Or maybe he just doesn't think before he says something.

After Murray won Wimbledon last year, Mac predicted Murray will finish his career with somewhere between 5 and 10 majors. He never said 10+. 5-10 is probably too high of a range now, but it was a conceivable prediction given the time.

Nadal had just gone out in Rd1 at Wimbledon and there were many questions about whether he would be capable on hard courts ever again returning from injury. Murray had just straight setted Djoker in a slam final, only the 2nd time that happened in history (the first being Djoker's first ever slam final at USO 07 vs prime Fed) and there was no indication he had any injuries or would need surgery.

There were 4 USOs, 4 AOs, and 3 Wimbys available after that win until Murray turned 30. He was probably pegging Murray to win:

2-3 of those Wimbledons
1-3 of those USOs
0-1 of those AOs
0-1 post-30 Wimbledon

total: 3-8 more slams +2 he had = 5-10

Now, post-injury, post-Nadal still being a force on hard courts, post winning 0 of USO 13/AO 14/Wimb 14, and the available pre-30 HC/Grass slams being 3 USOs, 3 AOs, 2 Wimbys, the odds look like:

1-2 of those Wimbledons
0-2 of those USOs
0-1 of those AOs
no post-30 slams

total: 1-5 more slams +2 he has = 3-7 range

 

[Egoista]

i knew this thread would come up

another one of Jmac's (beauties)

 

[dudeski]

Good call JMac and Cash. :lol: :lol: :lol:
You are always so dependable and whatever is you say is always true.

 

[JohnnyMac Fan!]

Good call JMac and Cash. :lol: :lol: :lol:
You are always so dependable and whatever is you say is always true.

Damn straight!!! Lol!

 

[jaggy]

Bit of a spoiler here, no?

 

[tennis4jags]

The difference here is that Rosol and Darcis were 26(nearly 27) and 29 respectively. Nick is only 19. I dont think there jumping the gun here, although i am not surprised by McEnroes comments, he has been hyped a lot lately so yes, we will see.....

I do agree on Age difference part, but having said that these so called expertise as commentators they do always jumping gun prematurely.. Hope remember may be 3-4 yrs back when Tomic has reached 4th round in the same tournament, they commented same ting about him.. As i am telling same thing, if you have Serve then you can get it done on grass.. real test goes on Hardcourt and clay

 

[pound cat]

Good prediction for the outcome of the Kyrgios-Raonic match Mr. McEnroe. I suggest you don't bet on tennis matches anymore.

Sincerely

Milos Raonic.

 

[Tennis_Bum]

People who are stupid enough to take McEnroe and Cash's word seriously get what they deserve. They only said those things to bring up rating so that people will tune in to see Kyrgios's amazing ride. He had a great run but as he got deeper into the tourney, there were higher quality players waiting for him there. He has to perform more consistently to win big tournaments.

Time will tell.

McEnroe and Carillo make it really hard for me to watch tennis. I often use the mute button because of these two morons.

 

[The Green Mile]

I do agree on Age difference part, but having said that these so called expertise as commentators they do always jumping gun prematurely.. Hope remember may be 3-4 yrs back when Tomic has reached 4th round in the same tournament, they commented same ting about him.. As i am telling same thing, if you have Serve then you can get it done on grass.. real test goes on Hardcourt and clay

Haha, yes I remember all that Tomic hype.... most young guns who have one good result somewhere will have themselves hyped up by Johnny Mac. It is his job......

 

[Steve0904]

He wasn't happy seeing Nadal lose yesterday. You could tell during the commentary. He wasn't praising Nick as he played, he was just surprised that he was playing so well and consistently against Nadal on his first venture to Wimbledon Centre court. I used to like Mac, but he's too far up his own @rse now.

Or Nadal's.