The only thing stopping Nick Kyrgios is himself

It’s hard to watch Nick Kyrgios for long without the sense he wants the world to know he considers everything beneath him.

Clearly, journalists are beneath him and he treats them with open contempt at every opportunity, but so too are the officials he abuses, the opponents he mocks and even tennis itself.

‘I don’t really like the sport of tennis that much. I don’t love it’, he has stated publicly, claiming instead that his real affection is for basketball.

To say Kyrgios has failed to realise his talent for tennis is one of sport’s great understatements, and something he seems to accept. ‘I thought my ship had sailed,’ he said this week about the prospect of ever winning a Slam.

When he announced himself on the international stage aged 19 in 2014 by defeating then world number one Rafa Nadal in the fourth round at Wimbledon, having qualified by wildcard, he was hailed as the best young player since Roger Federer.