When John McEnroe watches Nick Kyrgios play, he's reminded of another mercurial, massive talent: himself.

McEnroe, who captained Kyrgios on past Laver Cup squads, calls the Wimbledon finalist an "electrifying" talent who can win a Grand Slam title if he faces his fears.

The former world No. 1 in singles and doubles praised Kyrgios as both a popular and controversial character, who continues to draw fans to the sport.

"With Nick, he’s moving the needle and there’s a lot of new fans coming into the sport because of him, so that’s a real positive thing," McEnroe told Australia's 7News.com. "And he’s electrifying in a way - I’d like to think some of that I brought to the game when I came into it."

The Hall of Famer says Kyrgios' fundamental fear is he's scared of giving his absolute best and still coming up short. McEnroe says if Kyrgios can commit to competing without that fear of failure, stay healthy and show the discipline he displayed en route to his first singles major final at The Championships, he can break through to master a major.

“We all have fear of failure and we try to deal with it the best way we can," McEnroe told 7News.com. "The best way I believe you can is to go out and do your job to the best of your ability every time you do it. It’s tough to do, and Nick’s had a problem with that.

“Too often he’s veered off because of his anxiety and fear that if he goes out and gives his best it’s not good enough against certain people, that that makes him a bad person. And I dealt with this on my own, so this would be an example of the pot calling the kettle black, obviously."



Given his own angry antics on court, McEnroe said he's in no position to criticize Kyrgios' behavior, but would like to serve as a mentor and help nurture the Australian Open doubles champion.

“I was embroiled in all types of things myself, so who am I to say what he should do?" McEnroe said. "I do it more as someone who sees him as someone who’s really good for the game and want to nurture him like one of my own kids in a way.

“But he’s the guy I’m most compared to, and he’s the guy that right now, if he committed for the next couple of years, could do some really good things in tennis.”

Photo credit: Laver Cup