Nick Kyrgios Gets Real About Overcoming ‘Big Imposter Syndrome’ in the Tennis World
Nick Kyrgios acknowledges that as a child he “hated tennis” and that he suffers from “big imposter syndrome.” Due to his childhood obesity, Kyrgios’ mother enrolled him in tennis lessons. It was done at the moment only to encourage Kyrgios to start playing. “Well, when I was younger, I detested tennis.
As a child, I was overweight and really obese. And my mother was kind of like, “Okay, we need you to get active and play sports.” She then pulled me to the neighborhood tennis courts. I detested crying all day, as I recall.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty, Kyrgios stated, “Didn’t want to be there anyway.” Kyrgios wasn’t very fond of tennis at first, but he was performing admirably on the court. At that point, Kyrgios overheard his coach remark, “Oh, he’s picking it up pretty quickly.” That, according to Kyrgios, was “a defining moment” since his parents threw themselves into supporting their son’s tennis career after that.
Kyrgios: I feel like a major imposter.
At the age of 28, Kyrgios has established a respectable career for himself and is currently regarded as one of the sport’s most captivating and well-liked players. The runner-up at Wimbledon in 2022, Kyrgios, has won seven titles and is rated as high as 13 in the world.
Furthermore, Kyrgios is one of the uncommon athletes who has defeated each of the Big Three at least once. “I never gave myself the respect I needed to be on the tour and defeat players like Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer.” I simply never thought about it.
And then it just happened without warning. And something changed in my life. I feel as though I have severe imposter syndrome. as if I were seated here. In my Canberran home, I observe you lying in bed. I have you under observation. And suddenly I’m here, having a discussion, all of a sudden.
That’s really absurd, in my opinion,” Kyrgios remarked.