We all know Nick Kyrgios, the Australian who’s never made a Grand Slam semifinal, never won a Masters event, and never even made the top ten. Just off that alone it’s obvious we don’t know him for his tennis results; instead, he’s mostly known for being someone who personally abuses fellow players, fans, linespeople, umpires, and journalists. Nothing new there really, it’s the same person we’ve known for the last five years.
But regardless of all that, the media has given the World No.40 a lot of attention the last few months for his comments regarding the COVID-19 situation. The best part is if you take all of these combined with his actions it actually makes for pure hypocritical comedy. It shouldn’t be funny, but the more you put together, the more you’ll see just how unintentionally hilarious Nick Kyrgios really is.
I could write so much about this but it would end up being a novel. Instead I’ll just quote his latest video with him pulling out of the US Open to just show you how laughable his comments really are.
“Let’s take a moment to remember what’s important, health and safety as a community.”
Who can disagree with this? Of course health and safety of comes before anything else. But here’s the thing, this is something he hasn’t practiced himself. After preaching about how awful “no social distancing” and “no masks” in recent times, he went to a nightclub without a mask and was hugging other people.
He even tried to justify this on Twitter by saying: “We have zero cases in Canberra. I followed every rule, as did every citizen that lives with me in the ACT. Maybe do some research you pelican.” – Yes, he’s talking to a tennis fan here, calling them a “pelican.” This comment is made even funnier in the next section when he’s criticizing the Adria Tour despite a low number of COVID-19 cases locally, but that defense clearly only works when it comes to Australia.
“No problem with the USTA putting on the US Open and if players want to go that’s up to them.”
This is the same man who had a problem with Novak Djokovic hosting an exhibition in Europe. After Djokovic tested positive and the remainder of the tour cancelled, Kyrgios made comments such as: “Boneheaded decision to go ahead with the ‘exhibition,'” “that’s what happens when you disregard all protocols,” and “Don’t @ me for anything I’ve done that has been ‘irresponsible’ or classified as ‘stupidity’ – this takes the cake.”
Serbia was experiencing one death a day due to the virus with active cases only at around the 550 mark when the exhibition was ongoing. Simply put, the country was not a COVID-19 hotspot, and the risk of contracting the virus let alone spreading it was low; there’s a reason such big events were allowed in Serbia by the government. Serbia was not the USA, UK, or Australia with some extreme measures in play due to the amount of cases and deaths. The fact he says it’s “disregarding protocols” is made even more laughable, as if the whole world has to abide by rules set by a certain few countries.
Then, of course, he tries to say what the people involved in the event have done is worse than all his previous antics yet like I’ve said above, technically no rules were broken (spoiler: his own defense for going to a nightclub). On the other hand, here is a man who’s broken chairs on court, swore at spectators, and told a fellow player another man “banged your girlfriend.” I guess all of those are in the rules of tennis then since it’s clear Nick Kyrgios never breaks rules.
Anyway, despite all this, he has no issue with the US Open going ahead, in the country with the most COVID-19 deaths. There’s actually been a lot of exhibitions going on these last few months all around the world, including a few in the USA. In fact, one of his good friends on tour tested positive for coronavirus and even played with it–Frances Tiafoe–during the All-American Team Cup in Georgia, an exhibition held by fellow American John Isner, a Laver Cup teammate of his. Kyrgios’ response on all this? Not a single word said.
It’s clear the world number 40 has motives against certain players. I mean a quick Google search will tell you everything you need to know about how much more he speaks about champions such as Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
“no one wants people to keep their jobs more than me.”
Let’s take a moment to realize that this is the same man who was openly ageist to a linesperson at the US Open years. Despite just doing his job, an annoyed Kyrgios said, “that’s why you can’t have a guy who’s 85 being a line umpire.” So in this case he wants a hard working man to lose his job for doing nothing wrong, yet apparently “no one” wants people to lose their jobs more than him.
This video is constant PR line after line. The fact the ATP and USTA both let such an awful comment slide years ago still leaves a sour taste in my mouth. There’s zero room for ageism in this sport.
“you can’t be dancing on tables.”
Another jab at the Adria Tour, where its players were dancing on tables in nightclubs. To be fair, I don’t really see how dancing on tables increases the spread of COVID-19 but whatever, I’ll pretend it does. As we’ve seen though, you obviously can’t go to nightclubs and dance on tables in the Australian’s eyes, instead you can only go to nightclubs and hug people, that most definitely stops COVID-19 from spreading!
But no, what makes this comment funniest is you can’t dance on tables then, but do you know what you can do? Film a video of himself while driving. Considering the guy has been preaching about “safety” and whatnot the last few months (I mean, he even started this video mentioning “safety”), it surely makes sense to you know, drive safely like any decent person would do. Is that asking too much?
But who knows, maybe dancing on tables is far more deadly than recording a video while driving…
“money grabbing your way around Europe, trying to make a quick buck hosting an exhibition, that’s just so selfish.”
Another absolute gem from the zero-time Grand Slam and Masters champion. To clear this up, Adria Tour was created to raise money for charity. No players were making a profit out of the event. Instead, Nick Kyrgios has become one of the main poster boys for Laver Cup, an “exhibition” where players are paid huge participation fees as well as a bonus for winning, with profits going to those involved in running the event. When it comes to how much profit is made exactly, let’s just say a full hospitality ticket for all three days of the cup begins at $3,800 USD. So tell me, who exactly is money grabbing here?
“think about other people for once,”
As we saw earlier, Kyrgios just called a tennis fan calling him out a “pelican,” but that’s hardly surprising–she’s a woman and we all know how the 25-year-old man sees women as objects who are “banged.”
He even just called Borna Coric a “boring” personality, and game wise and three time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker a “doughnut” and “not the sharpest tool in the shed.” The last insult being particularly funny to me as I’m sure many would think the bluntest tool in the shed so to speak is Kyrgios himself.
These insults are just from the last month or so. If I went further back we all know how much worse the level and quantity of quotes would get. At the end of the day, if you want people to think about others, how about being a good role model and doing the exact same thing? Kyrgios openly said before he wants to be a good role model to kids, but I guess that hasn’t exactly gone to plan.
We have zero cases in Canberra. I followed every rule, as did every citizen that lives with me in the ACT. Maybe do some research you pelican.
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) July 29, 2020
“I will not be playing this year’s US Open. It hurts me to my core not to be out there competing in one of the sports greatest arenas, Arthur Ashe Stadium.”
Kyrgios is ranked No. 40 in the world. FORTY! His US Open results are as follows: R1, R3, R1, R3, R1, R3, R3. Does he really think he’s going to compete in Arthur Ashe Stadium?
The only way he’s going to be on the biggest court in tennis is quite frankly if he plays someone who warrants it, such as a Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic. On “star power” alone he would never get it against someone not near the top of the rankings or a fairly good American.
It’s been evident for years his ego is so far overgrown for someone with his tennis results. Just a few years ago he claimed to be “one of the best grass-courters in the world” despite only having one Wimbledon quarterfinal (six years ago) and zero titles and finals on the surface. That alone says enough about what he thinks about himself.
“I’m sitting out for my Aussies and the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have lost their lives.”
Let’s say you somehow believed everything he’s said so far (maybe one in a hundred of you?), this comment here alone is pretty petty. It suggests that those who do end up playing the US Open aren’t putting those in their home countries before themselves nor the dead Americans, which makes no sense whatsoever, but then it’s Nick Kyrgios, the only thing that makes sense with him is that nothing makes sense.
To conclude, the guy is unintentionally hilarious and the biggest hypocrite I’ve ever come across in all my years following tennis. The fact the media (I myself admit I am part of the problem) give this man so much attention due to his words and not results is something I’ll never understand.
How someone has gotten away with doing and saying so much unsportsmanlike stuff over the years is truly amazing. I would say enough is enough, but the honest truth is that was the case years ago. Hopefully one day it all stops and if he is to get attention, it’s down to results and not attention seeking habits.
This is an Opinion piece. As such, it does not necessarily reflect the views of anyone at LWOT other than the author.
Main Photo from Getty.
