Nick Kyrgios confessed that he had little more to give physically as his nine-match win streak came to an end in the quarter-finals of the ATP Montreal Masters on Friday.
The Wimbledon runner-up lost 7-6, 6-7, 6-1 to Polish powerhouse Hubert Hurkacz after coming to the court with 15 victories from his past 16 matches.
But the Australian had little left to give as his body began to complain.
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“My body hasn’t been feeling great the last week,” he said.
“I was feeling the abdominal (muscle) a little bit before the match. My knees hurt.”
Kyrgios kept the pace of the match brisk as he held his own in the first two sets before finally losing momentum in the third as Hurkacz took control.
The Aussie was annoyed as his opponent left the court for a change of clothes and bathroom break, a delay that ate into his fragile fitness.
During the broadcast, Kyrgios was overheard saying: “We’re not f***ing machines, bro. We can’t just go and stop, go and stop, go and stop.”
He later told reporters: “Obviously when you’re playing and you stop for like five to 10 minutes, it doesn’t help your body.
“My body was so stiff after that, I couldn’t move properly.
“I mean, it’s within the rules. I’m not going to complain. I completely stiffened up.”
World No. 37 Kyrgios, whose performance this week will send him into a seeded US Open spot, added: “I’m not a machine. I’m a human.”
Kyrgios won his first ATP title in three years last week at Washington and shared the doubles crown with Jack Sock, the first man in the event’s 53-year history to take both crowns in the same year.
“My knees were sore, my back was sore… I was trying to stay moving, but I just stiffened up,” Kyrgios said.
“My body hasn’t been feeling great the last week.”
Kyrgios said he needs a pause before returning to the fray next week at Cincinnati in the last major tuneup for the US Open, which begins August 29.
“I feel good, but the US Open is still two and a half weeks away. I have Cincinnati next week. That’s all I’m focusing on,” he said.
“I’m focusing on today, tonight, recovery, food, then just resting, then Cincinnati. That’s where my mind is at.”
Hurkacz overcame 53 winners from Kyrgios to halt the Australian’s nine-match winning streak. The No. 8 seed managed 43 winners of his own in a rapid-fire triumph that put him into his fourth semi-final at the Masters level.
Hurkacz will next face Norway’s fourth-seeded Casper Ruud, who crushed home-nation player Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-1, 6-2, in 74 minutes.
It’s the message that should be conveyed (and clearly is behind closed doors) despite Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes scrutinizing Collingwood for over celebrating its epic seven-point win over Melbourne last Friday night.
Cornes this week said the Pies went “over the top” and called for them to “keep a lid on it” given it’s only Round 21.
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“I haven’t seen stuff like this for a long time — we’ve all loved what they’ve done but they haven’t achieved anything yet,” the dual All-Australian said on Channel 9’s Footy Classified.
“You don’t see Geelong doing this — it’s like a WWE wrestler. Fremantle has qualified for finals, have you seen them doing that? Have you seen Sydney doing that?
“If I was advising them, I’d say ‘keep a lid on it’, narrow your focus and we’ll judge you when you win in September, not in Round 20. We’ll see how it goes on for the finals — I’ve still got some question marks on them.”
It came after probably the game of the season between Collingwood and Melbourne that went right down to the wire in front of a rowdy packed house of over 70,000 fans at the MCG.
With it the Magpies had knocked over the reigning premiers for a second time in 2022, extended their remarkable winning streak to 11 games and moved into second place—of course continuing their stunning rise from last year’s 17th place finish.
Ash Johnson celebrates after the win (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS
Factoring in all of the above, wins don’t come much bigger than that.
It set up for the euphoric atmosphere for the black and white post-match. Players, just as they’ve done in several of their previous close wins, immediately huddled in celebration before hugging and high-fiving.
Even coach Craig McRae was sighted on the bench going nuts with players and staff.
The Pies then got around their fans, who were as vocal as you’ll ever hear them throughout the night and jumping for joy on the final siren, embracing with the black and white faithful all around the ground and taking selfies with smiles beaming across their faces.
How could you possibly not live at the moment!?
It was scenes of pure passion and jubilation, and frankly, simple human instinct to react in such a way after yet another epic win — scenes of emotion that make footy what it is. After all, the game isn’t life and death.
You can’t even imagine how players would’ve felt. Going from the feeling of being so hyper focused on the game and questioning, ‘can we do this?’ To then the relief and bliss of, ‘we’ve won our 11th straight, and we’re second.’
And for that one hour after the match they can celebrate and soak up the victory as the pressure valve is momentarily released.
Johnson and McRae embrace (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS
“I would like to know what the levels of celebrations actually are. How much are you allowed to celebrate after another win like that?” Dual premiership Kangaroo David King awning foxfooty.com.au.
“The excitement should be shared with the fans, which was how it was done. It wasn’t disrespectful, it wasn’t demeaning in any way.
“They are taking their own on a ride that is so special, why wouldn’t you celebrate like that? Why wouldn’t you embrace what’s happening, as ridiculous as it is.
“And the bottom line is—who cares what people think.”
Footy has changed. Ten years ago there was a vibe in the rooms after wins of players trying to cover up smiles and stay in this overly professional, serious mood and act as if they weren’t happy.
This shift to a more jovial, lighthearted approach was widely said to be key to the Tigers’ resurgence in 2017 (where McRae was an assistant), and the exact same can be said for Collingwood in 2022.
While winning clearly helps, the Magpies simply look like a much happier club — you only need to attend or watch a game or be in the rooms post-match to really feel it — and it’s bizarrely made even Collingwood’s biggest haters warm to it (perhaps some more than others).
McRae’s message all season has been for his troops to stay in the moment week to week and celebrate the good times when they come — and this message has clearly resonated with the group in a breath of fresh air for the competition.
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Whenever the Magpies coach after a win has been quizzed about upcoming clashes, his reply has been consistently along the lines of: ‘We’re enjoying this one for now and we’ll worry about that later.’
“He’s really light hearted and has a lot of fun,” Collingwood skipper Scott Pendlebury said of McRae on Triple M over the weekend.
“Even (against Melbourne) before the game he said, ‘make sure we go out and enjoy the occasion. Take a look around, take the crowd in. I want you boys to play with freedom and fun, smile, enjoy this.’
“You just feel so comfortable and confident. You can see it with how we play, we’ve got energy and enjoying ourselves — and that’s all off the back of our coaching group and ‘Fly’ (McRae) driving that message home.”
What may be perceived as over celebrating is this very positive energy Pendlebury speaks of and aura galvanizing the group and driving one of the most unprecedented runs in league history. The players are simply living McRae’s mantra and riding the tidal wave of emotion.
No matter how far they go, Pies fans will always remember this winning streak and McRae’s first season at large as a truly special period.
This idea that clubs can only celebrate after finals (or grand finals) is mad. Does that mean of the 400 plus games that are played across the season, only one match is worthwhile celebrating because it ends in silverware? Or players who don’t play in flags shouldn’t cherish special victories along the way? That’s too shallow.
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The same can be said for scrutiny towards North Melbourne after it recorded its second win for the season against Richmond in Round 18. The club had just seen its coach depart amid a particularly tumultuous stretch of its horror season, and against all odds, knocked off one of the league’s powerhouses. Bloody lap it up.
There’s too many lows in footy to not enjoy the highs, and for Collingwood, last Friday night might well be the peak of its season. The odds are that the Pies probably won’t go all the way (not that you’d confidently bet against them right now!) But what may or may not happen in September shouldn’t matter.
Of course, context is everything and there’s a line. Not every win should prompt such a reaction, although it’s fair to say the Pies have played in an unrivaled amount of games that have probably warranted it in 2022.
But after having no crowds for the best part of the last two years and the club enduring a particularly rocky period over that span including the infamous 2020 trade exodus and departures of long-time president Eddie McGuire and coach Nathan Buckley, the players should be allowed to enjoy their unforeseen bounce back.
Although winning a flag is ultimately every club’s goal, there’s no rule that they can’t have fun along the journey.
There is “no reason” why Collingwood can’t win the 2022 premiership, according to David King, with the club even compared to the ‘Baby Bombers’ of 1993.
The Magpies are running hot on a 10-match winning streak to sit in third – just one win off top spot after 20 rounds.
And while the criticism has been that they’ve beaten 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 18th in that run of victories, there’s also been wins over Fremantle, Carlton and Melbourne.
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“You can say what you like about the numbers, the stats, the possessions,” King said on AFL360.
“They turn up for each other – this is building something quite special.
“There’s no reason why they can’t do it this year – we saw Chris Scott do it first year, we saw Rodney Eade make a grand finale his first year, (Luke) Beveridge and (John) Longmire win it in their second year – this is big, come with it.”
AFL360 co-host Mark Robinson laughed as he admitted: “I’m on the dark side already, I’m all in on Collingwood”.
“It might be the Baby Bombers of ’93 all over again,” he said.
Tim Watson with the 1993 premiership cup.Source: Supplied
The Essendon premiership side were dubbed Baby Bombers for having 12 players aged under 25 years in that winning team.
Against Port Adelaide last weekend, the Pies had 10 players under the age of 25, and two players currently aged 25.
King highlighted the fact Collingwood are outrunning their opponents as one of the best features of their game.
“I don’t know how you can just put a line through them,” he said.
“They are doing this better than the comp – they are gut running. Their running and power running is enabling them to end up with an extra number.
“Their run and link, kick forward, their demand for corridor we all see. But we don’t recognize their desire to just work harder than the opposition.
“This is a club in sync.”
King said every club needed a point of difference to win the AFL premiership.
It’s clear to see the love for coach Craig McRae. Picture: Michael WillsonSource: Getty Images
“Maybe (Collingwood’s) is not in the stats, it’s on effort. It’s on a buy-in. (Craig McRae) may just be a special coach,” King said.
“What I do love is what they are doing for each other.”
Statistics show that the Pies share one similar trait with the premiers of the past two seasons – Melbourne and Richmond – and it’s their ranking for what they without the footy.
The Magpies are currently the best ranked team in the competition – like Melbourne were in 2021, while Richmond were ranked fourth when they took the flag in 2020.
Collingwood do have a tough run home with games to come against Melbourne, Sydney (away) and Carlton – who could be battling for finals by Round 23.
Melbourne star Ed Langdon has labeled Collingwood “a bit of a one-trick pony at times” despite the side’s 10-match winning streak, raising the stakes of Friday night’s blockbuster clash at the MCG.
The Pies defeated the Dees when the two sides last met, prevailing by 26 points in the Queen’s Birthday game.
Still, Langdon said the Dees were well and truly prepared for the Pies from a planning perspective.
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“There’s certainly a plan in place. Without giving away too much, it’s not dissimilar to what we did to Freo (Fremantle) last week,” he said on SEN Drive, referring to the side’s 46-point demolition of another side that had beaten them earlier in the year.
“Our defense is definitely our biggest strength and to be honest we probably pride ourselves on making Friday night games pretty boring to watch for spectators.
“They’re sort of all duck, no dinner in a sense. If they’re playing fast footy on their terms they’re a very hard team to stop.
“They’re a bit of a one-trick pony at times, so hopefully we can dampen the way they want to play and off the back of that go out and offensively play the way we want to play.”
The Pies enter Friday night’s game equal with Melbourne on points, but trailing significantly on percentage.
