"Be strong, Ma”: Krygios' touching message after beating World No 1
Nick Kyrgios has shared an emotional message for his mother after his victory at the Canadian Open.
The Aussie tennis champ claimed victory over world number one Daniil Medvedev 6-7 6-4 6-2, just after a stunning display at the Citi Open in Washington.
American tennis icon Andy Roddick believes Kyrgios is now the favourite for the US Open, which kicks off in a couple of weeks, while Aussie tennis great Rennae Stubbs was in awe of what the Canberran is producing on the courts.
“@NickKyrgios I mean when he plays tennis and keeps his s**t together, he is seriously close to the best tennis player in the world,” Stubbs tweeted.
“His serve is untouchable at the moment. Fitness level is HIGH and his tennis acumen is unreal. That effort after losing the 1st set was impressive.”
Despite receiving global attention for his defeat of Medvedev, there was another thing on Kyrgios' mind after his winning match.
His mother Norlaila is in hospital back home in Australia, and he wrote “be strong, Ma” on the camera after his victory.
Before he took to the court for his battle with Medvedev, Kyrgios spoke about his parents’ health and the challenges of being away from family.
“It’s hard because even travelling now, my mum is in hospital at the moment, my dad hasn’t been very well, my brother just had a baby and I don’t get to be there with my family when normal people would like to be with them,” Kyrgios said.
“It’s hard being from Australia because we can’t travel back and forth. There’s a lot of things people don’t see. They only see me winning, losing, throwing a racquet, doing those things. They don’t really understand the challenges that I face or what people on tour face, what’s going on in their personal lives.”
Norlaila was diagnosed with terminal cancer last year, as she told A Current Affair she is battling to keep doing for the sake of her kids.
She told A Current Affair earlier this year, "The doctors said, 'You won't live after Christmas'. But I was so determined because my kids needed me still."
Image credits: Getty Images / Instagram