NICK KYRGIOS says his mum can no longer watch his tumultuous tennis matches live – because she has a pacemaker.
The Australian, 28, opens up to Piers Morgan on Friday night in an exclusive TalkTV interview despite the pair’s war of words down the years on social media.
InstagramNick Kyrgios says his mum can no longer come to his matches due to her pacemaker[/caption]
PAKyrgios reached the Wimbledon final last year[/caption]
The Canberra-born star is a crowd favourite but his appearances sometimes see him overstep the mark or smash racquets or argue with officials.
For his mum Norlaila, the thought of watching her son play tennis matches is considered far too stressful and causes great anxiety.
Kyrgios said: “She has a pacemaker now – so I don’t think she can come to any of my matches, especially the Australian Open or Wimbledon, with the ups and downs, the craziness that happens.
“It’s just too risky. So she watches from home. My whole team comes to watch me live. She’ll stay back at the accommodation and watch on TV.
“I know she’s watching me all of the time. I’ve stressed that woman out so much – and I’m sorry! She’s really proud of my work and how much I’ve grown.
“I wish she could watch me one last time. That would be a dream. It would be really special if she could tough it out for a couple of years more.”
In a wide-ranging TalkTV interview, Kyrgios talks about the moment in May a masked man allegedly threatened his mum with a gun before stealing his luxury car.
Kyrgios cut his foot open as he gave chase to the alleged gun man – who has pleaded not guilty to various charges – and the injury meant he missed the French Open.
He said: “I never thought that my career would bring people to my doorstep where my family have lived for 30-plus years. You hold a gun to my mum and ask for a car to steal.
“You can take the car but the trauma that you’ve left on my mum and family, you cannot heal ever from something like that. My career has brought me many beautiful things.
“These are the things I have to deal with it – that the majority of humans don’t have to deal with it.
“It was hard for the family to get over that. It was a horrific warning. I remember my mum screaming. I rushed to the front door, cut my foot on something, it was gashing out blood. It was a disaster.”
Kyrgios – who has played once this year due to injuries – has thanked Andy Murray for supporting him through his well-documented mental health torture and drink, drugs and self-harm nightmare.
The 2022 Wimbledon finalist talks about his “year-and-a-half to two years of complete harm” off the tennis court – details of which were revealed in last year’s Netflix Break Point Series.
It involved “drinking every night, self-harming, burning things on my arms, cutting myself for fun” and he “hated” waking up being himself.
The 28-year-old says Scotland’s two-time Wimbledon champion was one of the few people inside the sport who noticed the marks and recognised his struggles behind the scenes.
Kyrgios said: “Andy tried to give me advice. I was so stuck in my ways and I didn’t listen.
“But I’m very thankful. So, I thank him a lot.
“Andy was always a big supporter of me. As soon as I came on the Tour, he saw a work-in-progress. He tried to take me under his wing. Then he realised later in my career I wasn’t coachable.
“He was always looking out for me. He saw it and said: ‘What’s that on your arm?’ It was pretty bad at that stage.
“These are people in the locker room, who would see my self-harm. I can only imagine what people would think when they were versus me on the tennis court.
“They are like: ‘Wow. This guy is mentally in a storm at the moment and he’s still trying to play.’ It would have been alarming for these players to see.”
Speaking about the positive impact of sharing his story to the public Kyrgios added: “I’ve helped so many people. After I opened up about it, I’ve almost been a beacon for people who are struggling.
“When people feel they are overwhelmed and going towards drinking or drugs and stuff. They open up and feel like I am relatable.
“The fact I am able to pull myself out of it. That has been one of the most powerful things of my career.
“People come to me with genuine issues. They sent me photos in my Instagram DMs of them self-harming and genuinely wanting to commit suicide.
“I’ve had conversations with these people and phone calls. And that is making a real difference to my career.”
Watch the full exclusive interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored on Friday at 8pm on TalkTV. Available on Sky 522, Sky Glass 508, Virgin Media 606, Freeview 237 and Freesat 217. It is also available on DAB, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung TV Plus, YouTube, the Talk.TV website and TalkTV iOS and Android apps +