Kyrgios is the polarizing figure tennis needs

[Billie]

No Cali, dirty little secrets don’t deserve to be put out for all of us to hear, especially when they were not even his secrets. We all probably understand that male and female tennis players have always had their share of flings and relationships but most don’t talk about them publicly or not on the tennis court. Even if public wants to know. To me that is just plain common decency, not just between tennis players, but ordinary people as well. Do not kiss and tell, as the saying goes. Other than that, everybody can feel free to like who they want. There will always be people who strongly dislike one person and others that strongly like that same person. It would be boring if all people were the same.

I just don’t understand what is this masculine character about Nick?

 

[Mastoor]

Why is everyone after Tomic and Kyrgios? The murkiest figure there is Kokk, don’t you see that? He keeps quiet and proves everyone’s girlfriend is a slut.

 

[Billie]

Why is everyone after Tomic and Kyrgios? The murkiest figure there is Kokk, don’t you see that? He keeps quiet and proves everyone’s girlfriend is a slut.

LOL Is that so? Frankly neither one of them is handsome to me.

Well I can understand that young players have to attract fans attention to them in some way, either by playing and winning big matches or trying something else to stand out additionally. I understand that they yell, swear on court, use a bit of gamesmanship (and not only when they are young and starting to build their careers), but calling out a young girl in that manner….I don’t care for that.

It is just funny to me how Nole was crucified for his playful and really harmless imitations of other players, that were done only to entertain the crowds, but now rude Kyrgios is welcome and needed.

 

[calitennis127]

No Cali, dirty little secrets don’t deserve to be put out for all of us to hear, especially when they were not even his secrets. We all probably understand that male and female tennis players have always had their share of flings and relationships but most don’t talk about them publicly or not on the tennis court. Even if public wants to know. To me that is just plain common decency, not just between tennis players, but ordinary people as well. Do not kiss and tell, as the saying goes. Other than that, everybody can feel free to like who they want. There will always be people who strongly dislike one person and others that strongly like that same person. It would be boring if all people were the same.

I just don’t understand what is this masculine character about Nick?

Kyrgios got Wawrinka off his case. That was his goal and he accomplished it. While Kyrgios’s shot was below-the-belt, Wawrinka’s mouthiness, not to mention his personal life, invited such a reaction from Kyrgios. Wawrinka was talking to Kyrgios in a very paternalistic manner, and Kyrgios got annoyed.

I also don’t know why, in this age of anti-sexism, everyone was so offended by the remark directed at Wawrinka’s girlfriend. Is it in some way shameful for women to be sexually active? I am not sure if it is a revelation to state this on this board, but women have sexual urges too, and we shouldn’t be surprised that Kokkinakis found a female who was interested in such activity.

Was Kyrgios impolite? Sure, but so was Wawrinka. They were both wrong in that sense and it was male playground banter. Get over it and move on. Show some toughness.

 

[EdbergsGhost]

He's overhyped and his attitude will be an obstacle to his success in tennis.

 

[scoop]

Tennis needs a different guy - a person who will rock the boat and annoy - it's great having your Rafa and Feds who are class acts but the sport needs a black hat guy who stirs controversy - would you rather watch ten Raonics or five Raonics and five Kyrgios? Kyrgios adds a unique spice to the ATP equation

 

[britbox]

Oh Common. Like you don’t know. Nick is not playing fairly, tries to destruct his opponent. That is what he does.

Herios - I'm not sure what you mean by "not playing fairly" - could you give some examples? He might have a big mouth but I can't really think of examples of "unfair play"?

 

[Moxie]

I basically agree with Scoop. Kyrgios is a character, and he creates some good theatre. Do I like him? Not so much. But do I think he can be good for tennis? I do. I also think that he has gone too far more than a couple of times, and that his attitude and behavior sometimes hurts his own game. He's wildly undisciplined. I'd like to see him rein it in a bit, and channel it into his tennis. Robin Soderling, for example, embraced his own bad guy image, and let it work for him, once stopped distracting himself. I don't know if I'll grow to like Nick, but will I watch him? Oh, yes.

 

[britbox]

Nick clashed with the umpire again on Sunday. Thought he had a point this time though. Asking loudly for a towel and getting a violation for it seemed a bit harsh.

 

[Billie]

It was harsh. Don't they teach the ball kids that players sometimes get frustrated, angry and might yell? Then your opponent or a ball kid slows you down when you serve and you get a violation for it.

So many of my friends' kids ignore their parents even when they yell but it seems those are not the ball kids material.

The umpires are not always right and a little bit of tact could go a long way instead of penalties.

 

[Moxie]

It was harsh. Don't they teach the ball kids that players sometimes get frustrated, angry and might yell? Then your opponent or a ball kid slows you down when you serve and you get a violation for it.

I don't think the ball kids need to take abuse. In this case, I don't think how the kid was affected had anything to do with the judgement.

I've seen where Nick has complained that had it been Djokovic (his example, citing touching the umpire in Rome), he'd have gotten a pass. Well, there's something to that. Nick is a "victim" of his past behavior. The chair is there to make judgement calls, and I expect that umps are conscious of keeping Kyrgios in check, lest he get out of control. Is it fair? Not completely, and that may have gone to far, but it's somewhat understandable. Nick is probably on "probation" in the minds of the umpire longer than that 6 months he got for last summer. I don't think it's bad for him to be on a short leash. I think we can see the benefit to his game by being cautious about acting out on court.

 

[Mastoor]

It was harsh. Don't they teach the ball kids that players sometimes get frustrated, angry and might yell? Then your opponent or a ball kid slows you down when you serve and you get a violation for it.

So many of my friends' kids ignore their parents even when they yell but it seems those are not the ball kids material.

The umpires are not always right and a little bit of tact could go a long way instead of penalties.

Except that players are not the kids' parents and every frustration players show toward ball children no matter how unintentional should be penalised. In my opinion, every such frustration should be penalised three times as any other violation and if it is one of Big 3 in question they should be kicked out of the tournament. Novak was lucky that someone like me wasn't in high chair last year when he was yelling next to that ball girl.

My son had enough of that shit and he won't be ball boy anymore. They don't pay them anymore, they don't let them take pictures with players nor any contact with players is allowed, food they get to eat there is worse and worse every time and is very basic now. Not to mention that Albert Ramos threw his sweaty towel to his face when he was frustrated. What if Ramos had AIDS, hepatitis c or something that can be transmitted that way?

I actually looked forward to hear his decision because I had enough of driving him to every practice and every tournament day and bringing him back home. That is lot of time, planning and also money for petrol wasted.

 

[Moxie]

That's some interesting insight, Mastoor. I'm so sorry that your son's experience put him off completely. (I hope it didn't put him off tennis.) Given your devotion to Djokovic, it's clear how strongly you feel about it, that you called him out specifically. I agree with you that abusing the ball kids shouldn't be tolerated. The ball kids, whether paid or volunteer, I've always assumed, were there to get the opportunity to watch high-level tennis from close up. (That, and the fact that they're relatively small and have sprightly young legs.) So the experience is supposed to be inspiring, not demeaning. And beyond all that, they're kids, and tennis players are grown-ups (for the most part, or at least they've committed to being professionals.) We all know there's a lot of pressure in professional tennis, but all players should be gentle and respectful with the ball kids, above all, or suffer the consequences.

 

[britbox]

Djokovic weighs in on the Kyrgios/Umpire clash at the French Open - with a concise message - Keep my name out of it!

http://www.foxsportsasia.com/roland...60507/djokovic-to-kyrgios-leave-me-out-of-it/

 

[Moxie]

Djokovic weighs in on the Kyrgios/Umpire clash at the French Open - with a concise message - Keep my name out of it!

http://www.foxsportsasia.com/roland...60507/djokovic-to-kyrgios-leave-me-out-of-it/

But he never actually said, "Keep my name out of it," right? He said this:

“So, you know, by mentioning my name, I don’t think it was necessary, but again, I’ve got to respect his choice.”

Djokovic's hands aren't completely clean, as he's been handed some code violations in recent weeks for some grumpy behavior. Kyrgios is using him as an example very specifically because he's #1 and has had some tricky behavior moments, of late. But I'll go back to my point that Nick is much more on behavior warning that Djokovic, or most anyone. And yes, if he'd pushed an umpire's hand, I wouldn't be surprised if he'd gotten a fine. There was talk that Novak would. But Novak's overall behavior on court is better, and he'd get more leeway than Nick. Not because he's #1, but because Nick, though his own fault, has caused the umpires and the ATP to be wary of him. He's got a lot of bad behavior to live down. If he stops being a dick, I think he can be #1 in about 3 years.

 

[isabelle]

Can't wait to see Nick/Richie, it's both an opposition of styles and personalities...they're very, very different from each other, it could be very interesting

 

[Denis]

Who is Nick Kyrgios?

 

[Moxie]

Who is Nick Kyrgios?

He's likely to be one of Djokovic's biggest problems next year. You might want to remember the name.

 

[britbox]

Nick cops a fine for outbursts in the loss against Gasquet. He seems to be a marked man now... but this is largely of his own making IMO.

 

[Tennis Fan]

If you think the NBA is good for tennis, that's good for you. Probably others will agree. I think it's shite.

If tennis needs Kyrgyos, tennis needs to get its head sorted out. The guy has nothing going for him personality wise.

I'm with you. His antics are childish, rude, and obnoxious. The difference with him is that he attacks others, and that's not good in any respect, to me. I can't even watch him, regardless of his game. He also takes his lunacy to social media, arguing with fans and the like. Citing a few players out of the many on tour shows how desperate they are to get us to overlook him. No dice.