"I had the lightbulb moment when I beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon" - Nick Kyrgios on turning point that made him take tennis seriously

Nick Kyrgios recently looked back at his victory over Rafael Nadal at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships as the moment he decided to take his tennis talents seriously.

Kyrgios was 19 years old when he faced No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal in the fourth round of the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. The Australian had received a main-draw wildcard and defeated Stephane Robert, No. 13 seed Richard Gasquet, and Jiri Vesely before facing off against Nadal in his maiden Wimbledon campaign.

The Spaniard had a bumpy road to the fourth round, dropping sets against Martin Klizan, Lukas Rosol, and Mikhail Kukushkin. The Round-of-16 match was another close and hard-fought contest that Kyrgios won 7-6 (5), 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the Centre Court of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

Nick Kyrgios recalled the win over Nadal and pegged it as the moment he decided to take the next step in his professional tennis career during a conversation with celebrity chef Gordan Ramsey on "Good Trouble With Nick Kyrgios," the Australian's new video podcast show in collaboration with Naomi Osaka's media company Hana Kuma.

The 28-year-old remembers looking at the list of players who had bettered Nadal that included the names of Roger Federer and Andy Murray. This inspired him to become a professional tennis player and make lifestyle changes to pursue that dream.

"I guess I had the lightbulb moment when I beat Nadal Center Court at Wimbledon. I was going to school. I mean I didn't even know how good I was at that time. I was just playing because it was just like I was entering the tournament then it happened and then I saw this list of guys who had achieved what I had achieve," Kyrgios said 4 minutes and 30 seconds into the chat.

"It was like Federer, Andy Murray, and I was like okay maybe I got to start taking it seriously. Maybe I got to get up off the video games for 6 hours a day, actually eat, actually train," he added.

The former Australian Open doubles champion added that he was not physically gifted and thanked his parents for recognizing his potential and pushing him toward tennis.

"I was not athletically gifted, I was just this skinny 19 year old from Canberra. Your chef at that time was pushing you because he saw, I guess, potential. You know that what just my parents and I'm just so glad in hindsight. If it was myself driven I don't think I would have gotten the best out of myself," Kyrgios recounted.

Nick Kyrgios reached his maiden Grand Slam final at Wimbledon 2022

Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios pictured after 2022 Wimbledon final

The Wimbledon Championships has been a special tournament for Nick Kyrgios for many reasons. Apart from his aforementioned triumph over Nadal, SW19 was also the tournament where Kyrgios reached his maiden Grand Slam final in 2022.

The Australian was unranked at the tournament. He ousted Paul Jubb, No. 26 seed Filip Krajinovic, No. 4 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, Brandon Nakashima, Cristian Garin, and No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal en route to the final. Nadal withdrew from the semifinal match due to a torn abdominal muscle.

In the title contest, Kyrgios faced off against the No. 1 seed and three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic. The Australian began the match strongly, taking the first set. However, the Serb showed wizardry on the grass court and won the next three sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) to take home the title.