Nick Kyrgios has reacted to his snubbing for the Newcombe Medal for Australia’s best tennis player with trademark indifference.
The world No.13 made his feelings known in a Twitter exchange with fellow Australian rising star Thanasi Kokkinakis.
“Surely I’m nominated at the Newcombe Medal this year?!?” Kokkinakis tweeted, tongue in cheek.
Kyrgios replied with equal sarcasm: “Kokky this applies to us both.”
The 21-year-old’s failure to be nominated for the Tennis Australia award comes as little surprise after his season ended in an three-week suspension following a meltdown in Shanghai.
Kyrgios has long-held anti-authoritarian attitudes – something he left in little doubt when he re-tweeted a follower who described the Newcombe Medal as “slowly morphing into the teacher’s pet award”.
World No.26 and fellow bad boy Bernard Tomic also found himself off the nomination list for Australia’s top tennis award.
Tomic spent much of the year in the top 20, reaching the fourth round in two grand slams and making a final in Mexico.
But potentially held against him was a decision not to make himself available for the Rio Olympics.
He also was involved in a verbal stoush with a fan at the US Open, while holding his racquet head instead of the handle when facing match point at the Madrid Open was hardly a good look.
Dylan Alcott, Daria Gavrilova, John Millman, John Peers, Samantha Stosur and Jordan Thompson will battle it out for the medal after being nominated on Monday.
Alcott and Gavrilova are warm favourites for the award which will be handed out in Melbourne next week.
Wheelchair tennis player Alcott won the Australian Open in 2016 and took out gold in singles and doubles at the Paralympic Games.
Gavrilova reached a career-high No. 25 in 2016 and made the final of the Moscow Open to close in on Stosur’s Australian No.1 ranking.
Brendon the 1st
Guest
Alcott sounds a worthy winner to me
NaBUru38
Guest
Results speak for themselves. Kyrgios and Tomic dont need an award to show they are top 20 players. However, these awards can help to recognize less known achievers like Alcott and Gavrilova, not to mention sportsmanship champions.
Torchbearer
Guest
I would argue the best tennis player did win the award...did Nick or any other player win the equivalent of the Olympic Gold medal in singles and doubles?
c
Roar Rookie
if the medal takes into account overall behavior then there is a case for nk non nomination (mind you the tbest aus tennis player did not win their most prestigious award)
doogs
Guest
So where is it that he hits out, sorry?
Simoc
Guest
It demonstrates how meaningless and worthless the medal is. Since the professional era began Australia are way down the pecking order in tennis, and of course Newcombe represents the distant past prior to professional tournaments.