Sysyphus
Talk Tennis Guru
The great question of our time: Who is more talented out of Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic – these two mercurial, lazy, controversial, self-sabotaging but ostensibly gifted gentlemen representing the big Oz?
For the purpose of the discussion, let's define 'talent' simply as natural aptitude – the thing that conjoins with work/effort to create ability/expertise.
Some pertinent stats:
Highest ranking
Kyrgios: 13
Tomic: 17
Career titles
Kyrgios: 4
Tomic: 4
Best slam result
Kyrgios: Wimbledon and AO quarters at the age of 19.
Tomic: Wimbledon quarters at the age of 18.
Number of TTW fanboys
Kyrgios: 972
Tomic: @Aussie Darcy
I know the obvious answer will probably be Kyrgios, because he's been more relevant for a few years and we've all had it endlessly rammed down our throats how he's oh-so-talented. But I would make the case that Tomic is probably the more talented of the two. He's achieved fairly similar highs in terms of peak achievement, but from what we know about them, it seems pretty clear to me that Tomic's circumstance, life and attitude have been a much bigger hinder than Kyrgios'. Kyrgios is ostensibly mostly a kid with a bad attitude who tanks and pretends to not give a hoot to protect his ego. He still seems to at least have a supporting family and some form of commitment to the game. Tomic's life on the other hand has been a documented mess, with an abusive father as a coach/mentor, periods of quitting the game altogether, and reports from his former training partners of how messy the whole thing is. In spite of this he has achieved a comparable peak ranking and slam result as Kyrgios. More talented, no?
For the purpose of the discussion, let's define 'talent' simply as natural aptitude – the thing that conjoins with work/effort to create ability/expertise.
Some pertinent stats:
Highest ranking
Kyrgios: 13
Tomic: 17
Career titles
Kyrgios: 4
Tomic: 4
Best slam result
Kyrgios: Wimbledon and AO quarters at the age of 19.
Tomic: Wimbledon quarters at the age of 18.
Number of TTW fanboys
Kyrgios: 972
Tomic: @Aussie Darcy
I know the obvious answer will probably be Kyrgios, because he's been more relevant for a few years and we've all had it endlessly rammed down our throats how he's oh-so-talented. But I would make the case that Tomic is probably the more talented of the two. He's achieved fairly similar highs in terms of peak achievement, but from what we know about them, it seems pretty clear to me that Tomic's circumstance, life and attitude have been a much bigger hinder than Kyrgios'. Kyrgios is ostensibly mostly a kid with a bad attitude who tanks and pretends to not give a hoot to protect his ego. He still seems to at least have a supporting family and some form of commitment to the game. Tomic's life on the other hand has been a documented mess, with an abusive father as a coach/mentor, periods of quitting the game altogether, and reports from his former training partners of how messy the whole thing is. In spite of this he has achieved a comparable peak ranking and slam result as Kyrgios. More talented, no?