The argument raging between Bernard Tomic and Nick Kyrgios post-Davis Cup is multi-faceted.
Those on Team Tomic insist Nick the Kid was indeed playing up his illness, compromising his compatriot’s injured wrist in the process.
Those in Camp Kyrgios are livid at Tomic’s on-court rant and accuse him of throwing his ill and incapacitated friend under a bus.
Given the fact that neither Tomic or Kyrgios are afraid of controversy, the only predictable thing about the blow-up is that it happened. And that, right there, is the root of the problem.
Yet again, the negativity perpetuated by the players has eclipsed the tournament itself, which is a terrible shame. As one who observed every match at Kooyong from the front row, it was an incredibly exciting weekend. The play was incredible, the atmosphere was electric, and contrary to popular belief, Tomic’s efforts and conduct on-court could not be faulted.
During the decisive match against John Isner, it was clear something was very wrong. Although his tenacity was evident, Tomic was very much inhibited in the first two sets. Along with a painful wrist, the heat was extreme, and the ice towels were out. He looked genuinely distressed; desperate and in pain.
Nevertheless, Tomic maintained his cool, disguised his frustrations during play, and mounted a very moving comeback at the end of the third set. He somehow put Isner’s seemingly impossible serves back into play and chased down every ball. This rattled the American, and caused him to net a forehand, clinching the set for the Australians.
However, nobody is talking about Tomic’s heroic play. Nor are we talking about Lleyton Hewitt’s mind-blowing comeback and scintillating fight in the doubles, partnering John Peers. Instead, the entire tennis world is fixated by an on-court dummy spit, a vitriolic press conference, and a series of very ill-thought-through tweets.
To be honest, I understand Tomic quietly mouthing off during the match. It was the furthest thing from a disturbance. He did not disrupt play. Aside from anything else, muttering, “Nick’s sitting down in Canberra, bullshit he’s sick,” is vastly less incriminating than saying loudly, “Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend” (thank you, Kyrgios) to world No.4 and French Open champion Stan Wawrinka.
But should Tomic have continued the diatribe during the press conference? No, definitely not.
As for Kyrgios, the fact he took to Twitter for a public vent at the first hint of an insult is eye-rollingly boring. We the public do not need to hear his thoughts about his wounded pride, because we simply don’t care. That’s his business. The sensible thing to do is to stay quiet, lie low, and wait for it to blow over.
Whatever compelled Kyrgios to fan the flames by saying Tomic shouldn’t expect him to “have his back” anytime soon is a mystery. Let alone bringing up, and deleting quickly, the fact Tomic holds the record for the shortest ever loss on the ATP Tour (to Jarkko Nieminen at the 2014 Miami Open in 28 minutes).
Why is this younger generation of players constantly perpetuating a vitriolic circus? It is possible to push past youthful audacity, and learn to say nothing when nothing needs to be said.
They also have the example of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, and of course Hewitt, who all very quickly grew out of their hot-headedness and forged careers as true professionals. So what’s stopping these young guns from following suit?
My guess is given the millennial generation’s addiction to social media, they’re conditioned to enjoy the drama and assume the viewing public will too. However, this assumption that on-court sparring and off-court feuds are somehow entertaining is incredibly flawed.
The fact of the matter is this: tennis fans around the world desperately want to believe that when the players are not slogging it out during a match, they’re all the best of friends. It’s a fun notion, it’s life-affirming, and most importantly, it’s unique from the sledging and violence so prolific in other sports.
You only need to look at the popularity of the Federer-Nadal rivalry to see this. The charm lies in the fact they are always so incredibly amicable. Observing their friendship separate to their classic battles over the years has forever endeared them to the public, and is one of the reasons they will go down as the greatest in history.
Bernard Tomic and Nick Kyrgios have the potential to be two of the greatest ever. They will not reach these heights if they allow themselves to get caught in the snare of notoriety in the press, or the toxic mess of social media attention.
They are not bad kids, they’ve proven their talent and drive. But they lack consistent professionalism, which is the key ingredient to winning the admiration of the masses, and above all, forging a legacy.
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