Brat. Wild child. Petulant sore loser. Rebel.
A brief examination of the damning phrases utilised in the media to describe Nick Kyrgios is all you need in deciphering the hostile opinion possessed by the country’s leading writers towards the infamous enigma.
As Australia’s most mentioned athlete in 2015, Kyrgios was relentlessly castigated in the tabloids after a string of controversial incidents plagued his previous season on the men’s tour.
Countless on-court tantrums characterised the conduct of the sportsman. He consistently threw and smashed racquets, remorselessly hurled abusive language towards umpires, screamed at inefficient ball kids, and swore at spectators. Critics have been inundated with an inexhaustible amount of unfavourable material to proclaim their disgust of the polarising figure.
However, Kyrgios’ inexcusable mid-match sledge of Stan Wawrinka in declaring that “Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend”, enabled public vilification of the figure to peak, inducing severe international condemnation and animosity towards the 20-year old.
Tennis fans and the wider community looked on in horror and disbelief at the inexplicable remarks proclaimed by the sport’s ‘bad boy.’
Rightly so. The aforementioned behaviours have no place in sport, especially in tennis, whose commendably upheld protocols of respect and honour in competition have been exceptionally adhered to by players throughout preceding generations.
Would we hear Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic mouth to a fan: “get off your f***ing phone?” Not a chance.
Kyrgios’ lamentable conduct has undoubtedly provoked a multitude of self-inflicted harangue that has left him not only with journalistic detractors, but also enemies in his immediate professional tennis environment.
But has the prodigious denigration of Kyrgios been warranted? Should we retain a vehement hatred towards the young star? No, and I’ll explain why.
The power that social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook have on us denies reality; it ignores what real people think and inequitably places a minority in charge of public opinion.
The minority consists of journalists – with regularly biased and prejudicial views, that infiltrate these mediums – fail to impartially report facts. With regards to Kyrgios, this is a classic example of the Australian sports media building a future national hero up, and as quickly knocking them down at their first fault.
Why do we so feverishly enjoy oppressing our own sports stars?
Nick’s every move is meticulously monitored, analysed and dissected – at the first chance of criticising the athlete the media do not hesitate to publicly castigate the player, usually with the support of words from an Australian tennis legend like Rod Laver or Roy Emerson.
But do the papers acknowledge his long-standing support for charities such as the Elena Baltacha Foundation? Do they widely publicise Kyrgios’ selflessness to take time out of training for the Australian Open to hit balls with aspiring kids?
Or even Nick’s willingness to see a London-based psychologist to overturn his on-court anger issues? Unfortunately they do not. The press will incessantly scold the player until we despise him like they do.
I want to query you Peter Fitzsimmons (who called Nick a “national embarrassment”) – in your time as an adolescent did you have a clean slate without any flaws or mistakes? Or did you experience hiccups along the road in your development into a mature aged adult?
When the rest of us were grumpy, hormonal teenagers who rebelled against authority and got into trouble with our peers, no one noticed. However when Kyrgios does it now, it makes the six o’clock news and is ruthlessly splashed across the front and back pages of the Sydney Morning Herald.
And all the while, Kyrgios is attempting to live up to the billing as Australia’s ‘next great hope.’ How can we expect such a high-profile 20-year-old athlete not to succumb to this inexorable pressure and scrutiny in the midst of aspiring to conquer the top echelons of the sport?
I urge the Australian media, and general public as a whole, to allow this maverick to be both the character and sportsman who he was born to be. Let him wear the pink headphones as he walks out to centre court, let him wear the gold chains draped around his neck.
The kid has a swag that is matched with a breathtakingly audacious and explosive game that should be revered, not picked apart. Kyrgios is a star in the making, a future champion of tennis and Australian sport – surely that is something to be celebrated rather than criticised?
Judge him instead when he is 24 or 25, and is a more mature and seasoned professional on the rigorous and demanding ATP circuit. I’m not arguing that we should condone Nick’s behaviour, but give him the chance to refine his exuberant behaviour by learning from his mistakes rationally through the support of psychologists, family and friends.
Enable Kyrgios to refine and reform his psyche, to grow up, and this ‘scourge’ will transform into a world number one that is lauded throughout the nation.
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