For a sport so steeped in tradition, beloved by the royals and with etiquette central to its foundations, tennis is notorious for producing some of the brattiest sportsmen in the athlete world.
One blinding example of which being Nick Kyrgios – known for his on-court tantrums, outlandish comments, questionable behaviour on social media and overall, well… bad attitude.
Kyrgios’ rap sheet of no-filter comments and unwavering air of petulance has handed him a reputation he can’t shake. The most infamous example of which being his 2015 slut-shaming comment about Croatian player Donna Vekic, Stan Wawrinka’s girlfriend at the time.
The negative commentary surrounding 23-year-old Kyrgios is never-ending.
…In all but the reports of his talent.
He is, indisputably, a star player.
He's currently the fourth highest-ranked in Australia, has one of the most powerful serves in history, and is, though painful as it is to admit, a pleasure to watch.
Kyrgios is also only the third player, after Dominik Hrbaty and Lleyton Hewitt, to have beaten Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in their first meetings.
And as his latest social media activity proves, he never wants us to forget it.
After Alex de Minaur - Australian ranked number one, world number 29 and this Australian Open's tipped favourite to beat Nadal, went down against the tennis great in straight sets at the Australian Open on Friday night, the NT News praised the young Aussie’s spirit and determination.
It was, after all, his first match at Rod Laver Arena, and the loss his first in seven matches after winning his first ATP title at the Sydney International.
They couldn't help simultaneously denigrating Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic, who have been in the spotlight for their constant, and frankly unprofessional, digs at Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt recently.
And Kyrgios, true to form, couldn't resist a response:
He's since deleted the tweet, perhaps realising on reflection its arrogance, but the exchange proves exactly what tennis fans are craving.
Players with Kyrgios' undeniable talent, but de Minaur's attitude.
As a nation, we want our star players to embody everything tennis itself seemingly stands for, and, in turn, represent us positively.
We want sophisticated, dedicated and hungry yet humble players like 19-year-old de Minaur to succeed, because he's everything Kyrgios isn't.
The young player even weighed in on the Hewitt-Tomic controversy himself this weekend with utter class.
“There’s a lot of stuff that happens off court, but I think at the end of the day what I really want is to be that boring guy that lets his tennis do the talking, you know?" he told media.
“I want everyone to know that I’m that kid that’s going to leave it all out there, fight till the end, and just continuously want to improve. If I’m that boring guy in the media, then I’m doing something right.”
The comparison speaks for itself.
Top Comments
He may be incredibly skilled but in my world, a true champion also has humility and grace. Both Tomic and Kyrgios lack these qualities.
Yep Joydie - I can think of many tennis players that started out as talented, precocious brats and matured over time and grew out of it. Some don't
Foot in mouth disease is catchy in this group- Bernie and Nick frequently suffer from it. That and they both have interchangeable mouths and bums- both do talk a lot of crap. Alex is talented, a pleasure to watch and although younger than the other two, truly mature. Less of the other two, more of him please!