They say behind every great man is a great woman – and here’s the proof that Costeen Hatzi has been the catalyst for Nick Kyrgios’ stunning tennis career revival.
At the start of this year, Kyrgios was all but on the scrap heap and headed the same way as compatriot Bernard Tomic.
He had become known as a frustrating waste of potential, a fan and official-abusing blight on the sport and a self-entitled young man who cared more about partying than representing his country.
Kyrgios celebrates with his girlfriend Costeen Hatzi after defeating Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan to claim the Citi Open ATP title at Washington this year
Now, Kyrgios is a Wimbledon finalist, has beaten world No.1 Daniil Medvedev to make the quarter finals of the US Open and is riding a wave of success that has propelled him back to the company of the game’s elite.
The exact anniversary of when the couple started dating is not 100 per cent clear, but it is a safe bet that it falls around November 18, 2021.
It’s believed they met on a night out and Kyrgios posted on an Instagram picture from that occasion with the comment ‘I guess this is when it happened’ followed by a string of shock, love and heart emojis.
The Instagram post that confirmed that Kyrgios and Hatzi were an item after a night out
Since then, Kyrgios has a 31-9 singles record, an ATP title, a grand slam final and $3,561,208 in prize money under his belt.
Couple that with a 19-5 record, three titles – including the men’s doubles crown at the Australian Open – and it is clear that Kyrgios is enjoying his tennis once more.
He has openly credited Hatzi for his turnaround, with his partner able to help him switch off after tennis matches and avoid the party scene that had derailed him so many times in the past.
Kyrgios poses with the trophy after he defeated Yoshihito Nishioka, of Japan, during the final at the Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington
Prior to the couple meeting, Kyrgios had a storied history of untapped potential. He was first accused of tanking against Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon in 2015 and it became a trend that would plague his on-again, off-again career.
in 2016, the ATP threw the book at him. Kyrgios was found to have tanked against Alexander Zverev at the Shanghai Masters and was slugged with over $45,000 USD in fines and banned from competing for eight weeks.
When the Aussie returned to the Shanghai Masters the next year, he took things to another level. After receiving a point penalty in the first set tie break against American Steve Johnson, he told the chair umpire he would quit the match if he lost the set.
Kyrgios did lose the tiebreaker and the set and made good on his word, quitting the match that cost him his $21,085 prize money and another $10,000 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct.
While the Aussie firebrand had built up a reputation for quitting when the chips were down, it was 2019 when he was disqualified for the first time. He was playing Casper Ruud at the Italian Open and went berserk, abusing a fan and throwing racquets, bottles and even chairs onto the court before storming off in a rage.
That same year Kyrgios was slugged with an eye-watering $113,000 USD fine at the Cincinnati Masters for calling the chair umpire a ‘f***ing tool’ and the ATP ‘corrupt’. By this point the wheels were well and truly off.
After achieving a world ranking as high as 13 in 2016, Kyrgios plummeted to as low as 137 in February this year.
Kyrgios famously refused to play in the French Open or any of the clay court season because ‘it’s not something that appeals to me anymore’.
‘Early on in my career when I didn’t really have a choice, I was just grinding and grinding and grinding [on the red dirt]. At this point of my career I’m not going to be having 30-ball rallies against Diego Schwartzman,’ he added.
But that is when it all started to change.
In March he reached the quarter finals at the Indian Wells Masters before reaching the round of 16 at the Miami Open. He was a semi-finalist at the US Clay Court Championships, Stuttgart Open and Halle Open before reaching the round of 16 at the Mallorca Open.
By the time Wimbledon rolled around, Kyrgios had surged to No.40 in the world before commencing his giant-slaying run to the final where he was eventually stopped by champion Novak Djokovic.
Kyrgios and Hatzi enjoy a holiday in the Bahamas after his success at Wimbledon
His ranking would have surged even higher had the ATP not stripped Wimbledon of ranking points because of its stance in banning all Russian and Belarusian players because of the conflict in Ukraine.
‘I’ve got the best girlfriend in the world. I’ve just got so many people around me, they just support me,’ he said during Wimbledon.
‘That’s a big part of my growth. Obviously being obsessed with my girlfriend helps, but I’m just able to let that go and enjoy my dinner and wake up the next day and separate tennis and life.’
After taking down world No.1 Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round of the US Open, Kyrgios now has a golden chance to win his first even major and potentially crack into the world top 10 for the first time ever.
Costeen Hatzi, girlfriend of Nick Kyrgios US Open Championships, watches on with pride
Again, he credits his girlfriend.
‘It was an amazing match, Daniil is the defending champion and he would have had a lot of pressure on his shoulders,’ he said.
‘But the way I have been playing has been amazing the last few months.
‘I am just working hard every day, making every practice session count. Getting to sleep, I would probably be out every night before.
‘I have a great girlfriend, she helps me. My team, my physio, all of my team.
‘I am really happy and hopefully I can keep it going. I want to go all the way, hopefully it is possible.’
With Costeen by his side and the lure of late night parties out of his mind, it would take a brave punter to bet against him doing it as well.