Is Kyrgios our most unfairly criticised athlete?

How is he being made a scapegoat of? I honestly don't get it. I also don't get why the focus is not on the fact that he (and his fans) feel it all right for him to feel victimized and make himself unavailable to play for his country at the Olympics. That just smacks of a misplaced and out of control ego.

Tennis is struggling to attract younger viewers and with the Big Bash being on TV at the same time as the Oz open next year we might just get a demonstration of that. Kyrgios is of the brash talented younger generation and his personality would be embraced by sports such as NBA that has a huge following of younger males in particular. If tennis is to compete in the market place in the future it need people like Kyrgios - talented and colourful. I am not suggesting that he is pandered to him but it seems to me it is open season on him. Loose the Kyrgios's of the future to basketball and AFL and tennis in Australia is on a down hill slide. As pleasant as Millman and Duckworth are they are not the future of tennis. Make a scapegoat out of Kyrgios you might just loose a whole generation of potential players.

Good ones Lancey! Could not agree more.

Good points. She made some criticisms of him, and arguably she could have done the same to others. But it does not mean that her criticisms were not valid. And he decided that rather than take it on the chin and accept some of the blame for his own conduct, it was easier to withdraw from something he regarded as a life long dream. It does not say much for him as a person, he obviously values his pride over all else. Or maybe he just does not care about the game too much, which is his choice to make. What I can't stand though is that he continues to make snarly comments towards the ball kids. I was a big supported for a while, but he's just a bully and its hard to feel sorry for him at this point.

Well he is the one who chose to remove himself from selection.

Matth - You've hit the nail on the head mate. Could not agree more. I cannot believe the angst about the AOC statement on him and lack of outrage at how he has reacted. The Olympics represent the pinnacle of sports. Dropping out is pure disrespect to the Olympics and to Olympians.

Agreed. This is Kitty Chiller grandstanding, nothing else. I'd love to see the 16 page letter. Has he been seen putting chewing gum on a bench? What really annoys me is that Kitty and the whole bandwagon she is leading is largely funded by the public purse. Is she the sole arbiter of how these many millions are spent? In my view the tennis association nominated Kyrgios. He should go, unless a criminal offence (like possibly Diamond) intervenes. Being a naughty, and repentant, boy is not sufficient. I object to my tax dollars being spent (or not spent) by Kitty in this way.

There was a great article on this by Quentin Hull on the ABC. Basically his opinion is that Kyrgios was not getting enough cuddles from the AOC the way he has been used to in his career. Suddenly he is just one of 400+ equally important Olympians. They don't need to make allowances for him, he has to fit in with them. It is a privilege to be invited to the Olympics, instead of it being a privilege that Kyrgios deigns to grace them with his presence. The team's behavior in London was a PR problem for the AOC. They rely on public approval more than most sporting organizations. They simply can't have another scandal this time, especially if the results aren't there. I can't believe Kyrgios said something to the effect that the AOC doesn't understand and what it's like to be in a competitive sport. I would have banned him just for that startling lack of respect for his prospective teammates, who bust their guts to be a part of the olympics.

I get the outrage about him being pulled up where others have apparently not. But should a major point of discussion not be his immaturity in pulling out of the Olympic team? On the one hand he says it's been his dream to play in the Olympics since he was 9. And then he lets his ego get the better of him and throws away his chance to possibly land Australia a medal in the Olympics. And we all know that perhaps not a Gold, but Silver and Bronze in Tennis have gone several times to people who have been ranked below where he is ranked today. Remember Leander Paes winning the Bronze after being a couple of points away from beating Agassi (the eventual winner) in the semis? That's what you can achieve when you tone down your ego and care about representing your country. Every Australian sportsman gets that. Surely at 21 (an age when Nadal had already won his first Grand Slam and Djokovic was well on his way to stardom), Nick should be doing more than acting like a spoilt brat?

Chiller has said that it is up to the shooting association whether he goes ??????

My gut feel is that Kyrgios and Tomic were popular targets. There is probably some wrestler or boxer or modern pentathlete who is also a knob and has probably had similar indiscretion within their sport just no one has heard of them. Michael Diamond has been charged with some serious offences, the hockey player (whose name escapes me) failed to disclose a DUI. Both of these are criminal offences. To lob Kyrgios into the same boat is unfair. I suspect Kitty Chiller knew she was on safe popular ground on this one. Peter Fitz agrees with her so she must be right.

yes he is, was sent a 'please explain, letter, just as nick was. he was mature enough not to spit the dummy. nick is an arrogant, immature little fella who badly needs a mentor to help him grow up.

I thought that info came out well after things had escalated.

Generally speaking it is incredibly FAIR to criticise Kyrgios. At times he has been a petulant brat on court. Djokovic and Murray carry on a bit too but Nick makes them look like angels. However, you are correct that he has pulled his head in a bit lately and he deserves some tentative kudos for that. Hopefully it continues. I also agree that the AOC handled him poorly. They should have spoken to Nick before making public statements about his pending selection. No matter what his record, that was unprofessional on their part.

just mentioned his name? Didn't she write a 16 page letter about him?

Marshall, my post has got nothing to do with judging the kids character! Who am i to judge anyone's character,especially when i dont know that person well. I dont like the sport tennis,never have! But what i do find most extraordinary is that as i write this post Nick Kyrgios is ranked no47 as the most marketable sports person in the world by American company Sports pro media! Thats not just tennis, but all sports! Thats remarkable as the kid hasn't won anything of note yet. What it does tell me is that as soon as that kid wins 1 decent tournament, he will jump into the top 10 most marketable athletes in the world. Not bad for a kid with no coach and doesn't love the sport he plays! See it doesn't matter what i think or anyone else thinks cause the world just loves a villian. The kids a genius and picked the role he wants to play in life and by god his playing it well!

Grant Hackett is also on the list and has been told that he is not part of the team in Rio. Since the decision, he has apparently asked for a seat on the plane over and back and is happy to wait at the airport bar while the event takes place

Since when do we measure character by how much of a 'wealthy boy' someone will be? He wouldn't need to be very bright to be smarter than I give him credit for.

I presume he is, and that others are too. Wasn't Chiller specifically asked about Kyrgios and Tomic when she made the original comment?

and is Michael Diamond mentioned on same watchlist? his alleged behaviour is far more serious than yelling "towel" at a ball boy