Without doubt one of the most controversial players in tennis, if not all of sport, the young Australian Nick Kyrgios seems to attract the headlines wherever he goes. It has been no different at Wimbledon this year, when the mercurial talent faced up against Rafael Nadal for a place in the third round.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Kyrgios has not helped himself at times in the last few years, when (amongst others) he’s berated a plethora of umpires, thrown a chair across a court, and shared some rather colourful language with spectators on numerous occasions. However, I do believe that the notoriously traditional and, dare I say it, stuffy world of tennis means that the 24-year-old is treated more harshly than deserved. I also believe that, more often than not, Kyrgios has a leg to stand on in his complaints.
Let’s take his complaints about Nadal’s timekeeping for example. The statistics say that the Spaniard took on average 27 seconds between points while serving, which is two seconds more than the maximum allowed by the rules and he clearly should’ve been given a time violation for this at least once. At Wimbledon, there are no shot clocks at the back of the court and this undoubtedly made it easier for Nadal to get away with it – and to be clear, it was clearly a tactic used by Nadal to wind up his opponent, rather than being any form of coincidence. It’s easy to side against the petulance of Kyrgios and his manner on the court, but he had plenty of reason to be complaining – Nadal is one of the slowest players on tour (between points) and stretches the rules to their absolute limit. Why do the rules exist if they are not there to be enforced?
One of the reasons people seem to dislike Kyrgios is because of his attitude and it is no different on the court than off of it. Were he to perhaps complain more politely to the umpire yesterday or not be so aggressive in his conversation, then it is quite possible Nadal would’ve been given a violation (and rightly so). But the fact that he has built up a reputation as the bad boy of tennis who doesn’t care much for the sport and who occasionally gives off the impression that he’d rather be anywhere else in the world than a tennis court, means that, in my opinion, the umpires as well as spectators and the wider tennis audience treat him unfairly.
Moving to Kyrgios’ antics off the court, he seems to attract criticism purely because he is not most people’s idea of a model professional. Whether he’s “going out every night” whilst winning a title in Acapulco earlier this year or enjoying a drink with friends the night before his match against Nadal yesterday, headlines and stories are written about Kyrgios when they undoubtedly wouldn’t be about other players. If that’s the way he feels he needs to prepare for a match, who is to blame him? Tennis players and footballers of old were known to enjoy more than just a few drinks during tournaments/seasons, and just because some may worship the idea of having chicken and vegetables before a 9pm bedtime to prepare for a match, that’s not for everyone.
According to one journalist on twitter, the press box was busier than ever before for a 2nd round match at Wimbledon and that is in some part due to the entertainment factor Kyrgios brings to tennis. In a sport where unique talents or those who say what they think tend to be looked unfavourably upon, the Australian should carry on what he is doing and bring some variety and spice to the middle-class, traditional world of tennis. He puts “bums on seats” and brings joy to the faces of audiences who are more than used to watching a dominant trio of players serve and volley their way to every title available. Being an avid tennis fan myself, I am familiar with most of the top 100 in men’s tennis, but how many average sports fans could name more than a handful or two of current players? You can bet your bottom dollar that not many could go past the top 10, but Kyrgios would certainly one of the most well-known.
More than one tennis expert has chimed in on the enigma that is Kyrgios and many are of the opinion he should hire a coach, settle down and work harder and more professionally to make the most of his talent. But who’s to say that he’s not happy where he is, playing basketball and drinking with his friends when he can, travelling the world and living a good life ranked somewhere between 10 and 40 on a consistent basis? It shouldn’t be news to anyone that not every professional athlete is in love with their sport. There are many footballers who notoriously hate playing, but tennis is no football – for a start you never have the opportunity of staying in the same place for 2 weeks and you are living out of suitcases in every continent of the world, only able to see your family and friends on an intermittent basis. You can understand why Kyrgios and others are not desperately in love with sport.
All in all, I believe Kyrgios has been a breath of fresh air for tennis in recent years and he is certainly bringing new fans into the sport which, for a period in time where every sport battles for the attention of TV viewers with innumerable games to watch every day of the week, should be supported rather than ostracised. The unique honesty and entertainment that the Australian brings to the game should be celebrated, not criticised.
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