Tennis star Nick Kyrgios credits Naomi Osaka for helping him deal with pressure

Kyrgios brushed aside the challenge of seeded Italian Fabio Fognini to cruise to a 6-2, 6-4 victory in just 61 minutes in the third round of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Miami.

Conversation soon turned to the mental struggles he has endured in recent years.

Kyrgios says he has moved on from the dark places in his life, and the role of Osaka cannot be understated.

"Naomi kind of pulled the pin at that French Open [in 2021] when she was dealing with all that negative kind of emotion, and when she just kind of pulled the pin, I related to that," Kyrgios said.

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Osaka withdrew from last year's French Open after a row with tournament organisers over media duties, explaining she had been suffering from depression for almost three years.

The 24-year-old superstar's decision was the catalyst for a number of elite athletes to go public with their own struggles. Among them is Kyrgios.

"I felt like I constantly played so much under that mental stress and negativity that I genuinely just couldn't function anymore with the pressures. I couldn't function with the negativity," Kyrgios said in Miami.

"Every day was just constant negativity from you guys, from eventually my family, eventually from my friends, from everyone. There was no positivity, and it was just eating me up and I just genuinely hated my life.

"It's taken a long time, and obviously I'm just towards a point where I'm just happy now ... I had to fix it myself."

The Special Ks' special year has continued with Thanasi Kokkinakis joining Kyrgios in the last 16 of the prestigious Miami Open.

Kyrgios' clinical display was followed by Kokkinakis, who needed almost three hours to shake off American Denis Kudla 7-6 (7-5), 4-6 7-6, (7-4).

Kyrgios has improved to 7-2 on the season, having arrived in Miami on the back of a run to the quarter-finals at Indian Wells. He now faces world No.11 Jannik Sinner for a spot in the quarter-finals.

"I wanted to keep the momentum going," Kyrgios said.

"As soon as I had break points, I wanted to take them. I served well and I am happy to be through. I am just returning well. My doubles has helped me a lot on my singles court. The way I am serving and returning is quite a sight to see."

British commentator and four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Tim Henman said "not only was his tennis of a really high standard, I thought mentally he kept his composure really well. It was mature, professional, calculated."

Kokkinakis followed his Australian Open doubles-winning partner into the last 16 with a display that will likely set up a showdown with Alexander Zverev.

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