TEENAGE tennis sensation Nick Kyrgios had all of Australia cheering him on last week during his incredible run at Wimbledon, including staff and students at his former high school, Daramalan College in Canberra.
Kyrgios attended Daramalan, a Catholic school founded by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in 1962, from Years 9 to 12, graduating in 2012.
School principal Rita Daniels told The Record the 19-year-old was “an impressive young man”.
“He is a very pleasant and cheerful person,” she said. “He was well organised with his studies and met all the requirements despite his busy tennis commitments.
“He has wonderful family support and this helped to keep him grounded and on track to achieve his goals while he was a student here.
“We followed his progress at Wimbledon with great interest. Our students were on holiday but many of our staff who were at work last week watched the games despite the late hours at which they were broadcast.”
Ms Daniels said Kyrgios hadn’t forgotten his old school, during his rise through the ranks of Australian tennis since graduating.
“He has been generous in his time, coming back to our school and his primary school last year to speak at events,” she said.
“He was happy to be photographed with young students and to participate in a question and answer session with good grace.”
Kyrgios, who is Greek Orthodox, stunned the world with his performance at Wimbledon, beating Richard Gasquet in five sets before defeating world number one, Rafael Nadal, in the fourth round.
He was ultimately defeated in the quarter finals by Milos Raonic, but his efforts attracted worldwide attention and praise.
The school’s website provided regular updates of Kyrgios’ progress throughout the two-week tournament.