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Nick Kyrgios frequently finds himself in the spotlight, but says that he's still far from relaxed in it. The attention he gets for his unusual approach to the game and unpredictable behavior, though, is still an adjustment for him.

"I feel like myself, I’m under the spotlight a lot more than most tennis players," Kyrgios said in an interview with the Washington City Paper. "It can be a guy ranked seven in the world that’s getting 1/12th of the media I’m getting, and I’m not playing half of the tournaments as he is. I’m still getting to know how to deal with it."

The Aussie, who playing in Washington, D.C., his first event since his fiery second-round defeat to Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon— says that unlike some players, he is very open.

"I understand they’re always trying to say the right things. You can use that as a platform for sponsor or whatever to carry yourself a certain way, even if that’s not how you are in person," he said. "For me, I just go in and try to answer the questions as honest as possible.

"That’s what I’ve done for practically my whole career and I’m happy with the way I go in there and try to be myself. But there’s definitely times where maybe I could’ve worded something a little differently, or gone about it a little differently."

Kyrgios: "I’m under the spotlight a lot more than most tennis players"

Kyrgios: "I’m under the spotlight a lot more than most tennis players"

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Kyrgios says he tries to be as honest as possible in his press conferences . (Getty Images)

Having often grabbed attention for his comments, Kyrgios says it is the press conferences following defeats that he finds tough.

"I think it’s more the ones where you’ve come off court... you might've had a bad day and you kinda know what kinds of questions are going to come," he said. "They kind of want you to bite on it and retaliate on their question, it makes you frustrated. I think the toughest part of it is have some discipline and sometimes not retaliate to their question. It’s not easy. It’s not as easy as it seems just walk in there and be good with answer[ing] all the questions."

On Thursday, the world No. 52 took out Yoshihito Nishioka to move into the Citi Open quarterfinals despite apparently limited practice since.

“I haven’t been playing too much tennis," he said following his first-round win, adding that the explanation was "mental" rather than physical.

"But super happy with the win [over Thai-Son Kwiatkowski]. I played well, and I just came through.”

But at least he always knows his strategy going onto court, which he describes as “the same thing for me every single match."

"Serve big and play big and back my instincts,” he said. “That’s the way I’ve been playing my entire career.”

Kyrgios faces Norbert Gombos for a spot in the semifinals.

Kyrgios: "I’m under the spotlight a lot more than most tennis players"

Kyrgios: "I’m under the spotlight a lot more than most tennis players"