New York: John McEnroe was heavily critical of Nick Kyrgios last night when he called on the Australian to quit tennis if he is not both physically and mentally ready to deal with the demands of the sport.
Commentating on American TV, McEnroe was less than impressed with Kyrgios's attitude before his retirement from his third-round US Open match against Illya Marchenko with a hip flexor injury.
The 14th seed was losing by two sets to one against the Ukrainian - 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 - when he pulled himself out, claiming that he felt like he'd been "hit by a bus" and that he couldn't turn. "What's the f****ing point?" he moaned at his courtside trainer.
Nevertheless, a less than impressed McEnroe said: "Nick Kyrgios, if you don't want to be a professional tennis player, do something else. He's hurt because he's not training enough."
The Australian, however, attributed the injury to training and playing overload. He said: "It's the whole year leading up to it with the whole schedule. I've got to take more time and be more diligent with gym and everything so this doesn't happen to me."
Kyrgios had started the match in good form when he broke Marchenko on his first service game before winning the first set in comfortable fashion. But he may have injured himself during his spectacular third-set winner when he chased down a Marchenko drop shot before firing an excellent backhand around the net.
He failed to recover from that shot, moving gingerly thereafter, winning only six more games - and dropping serve on four occasions - before bringing the game to a premature end.
"It's not going to get better by playing, I guess," a dejected Kyrgios said after the match. "It's tough. I don't like to retire. It's probably like the second or third time I've done it. It's never easy, of course. I've got a lot of belief in my game to still win matches when I'm not feeling great."
Kyrgios added: "His [Marchenko's] strength is to make balls move you around. It's not great. I mean, to be fair, my hip was bothering me my first two matches and I got through. I guess it was just a matter of time."
Kyrgios's injury places him in doubt for Australia's Davis Cup playoff with Slovakia in Sydney from September 16-18. "I don't really care right now, to be honest," he said. "Hopefully I get better in time. Obviously I want to play, but I'm not really thinking about that right now."
McEnroe has been critical and complimentary of Kyrgios in equal measures since the 21-year-old's emergence as one of tennis's hottest prospects.
Last year he lashed out at Kyrgios for his "bonehead" tactics during a first-round loss to Andy Murray at Flushing Meadows, while he also had cracks at the world No.16 at Wimbledon.
But his criticism of Kyrgios on Saturday night could be considered harsh, given the youngster's obvious injury concerns. Marchenko admitted it was not the way he wanted to reach the last 16 of a slam for the first time, five days shy of his 29th birthday.
"I feel sorry for Nick," he said. "But it's a dream come true. A win is a win and a win here on Ashe is a very special feeling for me. "I cannot explain how happy I am."
