Nick Kyrgios, Australia's first Wimbledon men's singles finalist in 20 years, says he feels like a 'reckless ball of energy' waiting for the big match to come.
Feeling like "a reckless ball of energy", Nick Kyrgios says the Wimbledon final can't come soon enough.
Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from his scheduled semi-final with Kyrgios has left the Australian with four days to agonise over the biggest match of his life against Novak Djokovic on Sunday.
And the 27-year-old says the waiting game is killing him.
"I had a shocking sleep last night, to be honest. I probably got an hour's sleep just with everything, like the excitement," Kyrgios said on Friday.
"I had so much anxiety, I was already feeling so nervous, and I don't feel nervous usually.
"I just know there's a lot of people that want me to do well and give my best. But I had a shocking sleep last night. Hopefully I can get some sleep tonight."
Bidding to become the first unseeded Wimbledon winner since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001 and Australia's first men's singles champion at SW19 since Lleyton Hewitt the following year, Kyrgios had to wait to learn his final opponent.
The Canberran only had it confirmed on Friday that he'd face Djokovic after Serbia's six-time champion denied British hope Cam Norrie 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 in the semi-finals.
The suspense beforehand had the mercurial talent going out of his mind.
"So many thoughts in my head about a Wimbledon final. That's all I was thinking about. I was thinking just playing, obviously imagining myself winning, imagining myself losing, everything," Kyrgios said.
"I've never been here before. It was just all running through my head, every little thought, and I just slept really bad.
"I feel like I'm just a reckless ball of energy right now. I just want to go out on the practice court now and hit some tennis balls and just talk.
"I don't know. I want it to come already. Yeah, I want the final to come already.
"I know that I have to kind of just calm down. There's still a couple days until that moment. Hopefully tonight I'll get a better rest - chamomile tea and a better rest."
While Kyrgios acknowledged having four days between matches was beneficial for his sore serving shoulder, he also felt his routine had been somewhat thrown out.
"I definitely feel like I've been playing in a pretty good routine. Obviously people would instantly say, 'He gets another day off'. But it's definitely a shock to the system because I've been playing so many matches," he said.
"You kind of play a match at a grand slam, then you know deep down that you have one day to wind down and let yourself relax and then go again.
"To have like three, two and a half, three days off, today I'm going to try to emulate a bit of not a match scenario, but I'm going to try and have a bit more of an extended practice to kind of feel like I'm in that same routine because that can throw everyone off.
"Obviously at a grand Slam you want to have those matches. I think in a way, (get) the competitive juices, you want to have those going, the adrenaline.
"That's just something that I'm going to have to go into the final without that semi-final kind of experience.
"But that's okay. I'm going to take every positive. I get to rest my body a little bit. It's not bad going in there feeling fresh."
