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Nick Kyrgios not bothering to train, says former coach Josh Eagle

Liam Mannix
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Nick Kyrgios barely bothers to train, according to a former coach, who says the young Australian isn't even putting in 15 minutes a day.

The tennis bad-boy flamed out in extraordinary circumstances at the Australian Open overnight, going down in five sets after dominating the first two.

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Kyrgios implodes as Barty and Tomic progress

Nick Kyrgios has imploded from two sets up to be knocked out of the Australian Open in day three as Ashleigh Barty and Bernard Tomic progress to the next round.

Kyrgios, seeded 14 in the tournament, blew a two-set advantage to fall 1-6 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-1 10-8 to unseeded Italian Andreas Seppi.

The 21-year-old, who does not have a coach at the moment, blamed poor preparation for the collapse, which happened at 4-4 in the third set.

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"I think I didn't have the best preparation," he told a late-night press conference after the loss.

"It's on me. Did a couple things in the off-season that I'm probably not going to do next time. It's on me, I guess. My body's not in good enough shape. You live and you learn."

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Asked what he would do differently next time, Kyrgios said: "I don't know, maybe just not play as much basketball. Actually take my pre-season seriously."

The player's comments came as no surprise to his former coach Josh Eagle.

Eagle, who also worked as Australia's Davis Cup coach, told radio station RSN927 Kyrgios wasn't bothering to put in even 15 minutes of work on his tennis a day.

"The time has come in my opinion where he does need a bit more stability from a coaching setup, where he's going on the court and just working on his game. That can be just as simple as 15 minutes a day," he said on Thursday morning.

"Imagine if Nick Kyrgios worked on his tennis game 15 minutes a day

"It sounds crazy, but that's not actually happening, and he's still 13 in the world."

Other players were in awe of the youngster's talent, Eagle said – but could see he wasn't working hard enough.

"[Other players] would look at him and say 'wow, what a talent'. On the flip side they say 'imagine if he was working harder, we would not stand a chance against him'. They probably feel a little bit sorry and sad that we are constantly seeing these blowups."

Eagle said Kyrgios lacked coping skills under pressure.

"The moment he gets under extreme pressure, that switch just flicks. He himself does not even know how to react. This has been happening for the bulk of his career. And it frustrates him."

"It's not the lack of effort, it's just that he has no coping skills."

Jeff Bond, a sports psychologist who has worked with some of Australia's top tennis talent, said Kyrgios was caught between owning his own performance and blaming others.

"I see a fairly conflicted young man, torn between accepting responsibility himself and then shifting the blame to other sources and excuses.

"It fluctuates. In his press conference he talked about how it was all his responsibility, then he said he wasn't serious about his preparation.

"He's still playing the role of the enigma, and he seems to delight in doing that. You cannot quite understand me, only I can understand me. Don't ask me any hard questions, ask John McEnroe."

Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash said Kyrgios needed a coach, and though he said he had sympathy for the youngster, Cash said he would not take up the job himself.

"I have a bit of sympathy for Nick, I've got to say.

"He's got a lot of pressure, and expectation I suppose. He puts pressure on himself, as well, naturally.

"But I'm like everybody else, I shake my head at times."

Cash told radio station 3AW that he had been in talks some time ago with Kyrgios' management about taking up a coaching role, but a deal never worked out.

And he said he wouldn't take the job now.

"Why would I want to get involved in a job like that," he asked, adding that no matter who the player was, he would not stick around once a player started shouting abuse from the court.

Cash, having struggled with such issues before, said it was "obvious" said Kyrgios needed to focus on the mental side of his game if he wanted to continue playing tennis professionally.

- With AAP

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