Australian doubles legend Todd Woodbridge says Nick Kyrgios learnt a lesson in the consistency and discipline required to be a top five player during to his Davis Cup defeat to Alexander Zverev.
The 20-year-old German, currently ranked World No. 5 won their clash 6-2, 7-6(3), 6-2 in Brisbane to send his country through to the quarter finals.
“I don’t think he was near his best yesterday. As soon as got down an early break, he went down 3-1, Zverev just got on top of him,” Woodbridge told SEN Breakfast.
“I said in commentary I thought we saw the difference between the making points at the moment. Kyrgios is ranked 14th in the world and Zverev is ranked five, and that difference is big in terms of consistency.
“In that match we saw Zverev just come up and be a lot more consistent, and disciplined is probably the word.
“That’s the next level for nick to get into the top ten, top five.”
Kyrgios had his challenges during the match, requiring treatment for a persistent elbow injury, while receiving a code violation and a crucial point penalty in the second set tie-break for smashing his racket.
Woodbridge said the pressure of trying to keep Australia in the tie, combined with fighting to stay in control of his emotions provided Kyrgios with unique challenges.
“He didn’t play the best tennis, but there was a different sort of pressure on him, it was must win and he’s got the team on the bench, and he’s fighting his normal demons to keep it together," he said.
“I think it’s just another piece of the learning curve, he stayed in the match but he was never near his best in his tennis.
“The pivotal part was he had to win the second set, where he ended up getting a point penalty in the tie-break and that was the most costly thing of the weekend.”
The loss sees the Aussies face a playoff in September to retain their place in the World Group.
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