Before you sit down and read my first opinion piece here at The Examiner, I've got to let you in on a little secret that may make you turn off your device, turn the page or never read anything I write again.
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You guessed it, folks, I'm a Nick Kyrgios fan.
Though not as big of a cardinal sin as supporting Collingwood (yes, I have one of those in my household as well), liking Nick will cop you plenty of slander from tennis' armchair expert online community and more often not, it is accompanied by one question. Why?
This is one of those questions that makes you sit back and consider everything you've ever known but now I finally have the answer. Hope.
It's in hope that one day, hopefully in the not-so distant future I can sit back and say, "I told you so" as Nick stands as a grand slam champion, following in the footsteps of Ash Barty.
The unfortunate thing about being a fan of Mr Kyrgios over the years has been that for every positive action there's a negative one just sitting around the corner.
For every tournament win, sportsmanlike act or stunning performance there's a "Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend mate" or a chair-throwing incident that sees him defaulted.
But, as the Hawthorn Hawks' theme song goes, we ride the bumps with a grin.
While his see-sawing attitude and persona arguably makes his on-court performance more in focus than that of Barty, Grand Slam success seems further away than the upcoming US Open for Kyrgios but the Canberra-born 24-year-old is certainly taking steps in the right direction.
During his victorious Washington Open campaign at the beginning of the month, Kyrgios admitted that his mental health had been slipping and was a major reason behind the temperamental (and rare) showings at the highest level.
As is common practice these days, the armchair community came out in full force - many in support of Nick - but others spouting rancid comments such as "I've known tins of tuna with more substance than this muppet" and "mind of a teenager."
That so-called teenager then rocketed through the draw, defeating top-10 players in Stefanos Tsitsipas (no.6) and Daniil Medvedev (no. 10) in consecutive matches to secure a second ATP title for the year.
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Rising up the rankings by 25 places, Kyrgios only trails Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem in titles won this season and was delivered a ripper of a backhanded compliment by runner-up Medvedev.
"When you're a winner, you're always happy. We all know how Nick can play when he wants to and, this week, I think he wanted to play, and it was tough. Hopefully you can make many more like this," he said.
The Australian's Washington week thoroughly proved that the tennis world is a better place with a happy Nick Kyrgios, as this time, his on-court antics managed to get the fans (quite literally) on his side of the court.
Serving at 6-3 5-3, 40-15 against Slovakian world no. 137 Nobert Gombos in the quarter-final, Kyrgios walked slowly over to the edge of the court and asked a court-side fan where he should serve.
The fan opted for out wide as opposed to the booming Australian's trademark 'tee' serve and marked his semi-final berth with an ace before running over and hugging the middle-aged lady who got to live out a tennis dream.
These antics continued on match points against Tsitsipas and Medvedev, proving that he isn't a one-trick pony by making the successful strategy three from three.
Engaging the crowd like no other athlete before him, this once again was another act that managed to set the armchair brigade on its natural path with comments like "Nick is not focused on tennis and does not give his maximum" and the now downgraded "mind of a toddler" from our same cheerful friend as before.
One of the stranger things (not the popular Netflix series, sorry) about Kyrgios' ebbing and flowing nature, is that the business of tennis even seems to be a better place when Nick is being himself.
Speaking on renowned tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg's No Challenges Remaining podcast earlier in the year, Krygios heavily spoke out against several rivals including Novak Djokovic, Nadal and Fernando Verdasco, labeling Nadal as "super salty" and Djokovic as someone who "has a sick obsession with needing to be liked".
Since that May interview, the Australian hasn't graced the same court as Djokovic but took on Nadal at Wimbledon in a 6-3 3-6 7-6 7-6 loss in a match un-paralleled to any other on the circuit.
The buzz Kyrgios created from that match exploded the tennis world and made the sport better for the duration of it, creating almost a WWE-level of storytelling.
With Djokovic one of the potential opponents on Kyrgios' hit-list come the US Open, the tennis world may never be the same again as that bitter rivalry plays itself out on the big stage.
Now that you all know my big secret, I'm getting back in my box for fear a meltdown but I'll be sure to pull this out of Nan's scrapbook and say "I told you so" when he picks up his maiden Grand Slam.
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Josh Partridge
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
