Ah, the Australian Open. It’s one of the best times of the year – wall-to-wall tennis action. It really is my favourite individual sport. There’s only one downside, and that’s the inevitable slew of hot takes, which my boy Nick Kyrgios is usually stuck in the middle of.
This year is no different. Kyrgios crashed out in the second round on Wednesday night – certainly a bit earlier than you’d expect and disappointing given he was up two sets to none at one point.
He was visibly not having a great time on the court. Really though, on the Kyrgios-controversy-ometer, it was pretty mild.
Don’t tell that to social media though. The vitriol has begun in earnest and shows no sign of abating. It’s amazing what people are willing to say about a complete stranger these days – I mean, you know that’s going to be on the internet with your name next to it pretty much forever, right?
Has Kyrgios done some regrettable things? Yup. Has he done some really stupid things? Oh yeah. But here’s the thing – so have I. And if you’re being really honest with yourself, you’ll admit, just quietly to yourself, that so have you.
Kyrgios is 21 years old. I celebrated my 21st birthday by eating 21 different fast food burgers (sorry, Mum), then broke a light fixture (sorry, housemates). I’m relatively sure I did not brush my teeth after (sorry, Dad). Later that year, I set a microwave on fire (sorry again, housemates). I could go on – I really could.
So what’s the difference between you, me and Kyrgios? When we messed it up, it wasn’t national news and it certainly wasn’t broadcast to millions of people – the people that did know about it knew us, forgave us and probably laughed with us about it a few weeks later.
Not so for Nick – from the age of 18 he’s had a nation of more than 20 million people watching him like a hawk, his every flaw broadcast ad nauseam, criticised without end by all the far-too-precious and enormously dull pearl-clutchers of the world.
Do you reckon there’s any chance that if every less-than-spectacular moment of your life from ages 18 to 21 was recorded, reported, publicly dissected in the media, Google-able in an instant and living forever on YouTube, that there is any chance you’d be anything other than certifiably insane? I would be!
That’s exactly what Nick has been through and he’s No.13 in the world. Were you No.13 in the world at anything when you were 21? Aside from my prodigious ability to sleep through my alarm every morning without fail, I sure wasn’t. The day he turned 21, Roger Federer was No.14.
What has Nick actually done anyway? Cursed a few times? Got pissed off and acted out when under enormous pressure? Said something really, really stupid? Had some days when he just didn’t feel like putting in the effort? Had a crack at an umpire?
I’ve ticked every box on that list a dozen times over, but I don’t have a Wikipedia page where you and everyone else in the world can read about it.
Yes, we all love it when sports people and other celebrities create wonderful, respectable, media images with a perfect track record of behaviour, but here’s the thing – those are all lies, and if they’re not, then those people are probably horrendously boring.
Give Nick a break. He’s only human. So am I, and so are you. We were all young and stupid once – some of us still are and part of me hopes I always will be.
Life’s too short, let’s have some fun – tell me the dumbest thing you did when you were 21 in the comments. C’mon, it’s good for the soul, and I promise not to judge.
Then, for the rest of the day, the rest of your life, whenever you do something regrettable – try not to overthink it. Allow yourself to move on, laugh about it if you can. And when other people mess up, give them the common courtesy of letting them do the same.
Yes. Even Nick Kyrgios.
MichaelJ
Guest
I agree with anon. It is a very dangerous world that pro sports is in these days, what with sophisticated gambling syndicates based in countries with slack laws. If Kyrgios ( and perhaps Tomic too) is under intimidation then we can feel sorry for him and hope he can extricate himself from these syndicates. If, on the other hand, he is a willing pawn then that is another issue again. Tennis Australia needs to work with law enforcement to clean up the "swamp" or their troubles will never end, and credibility will be lost to Australian tennis. What's the use of having the world's best playing facilities if we can't rely on our players to be 100% every time. No-one can condemn them for losing so long as their efforts are honest.
anon
Roar Pro
There's no evidence that a jockey pulling up short is fixing a race either. The horse was just struggling. There's a common theme with Aussies -- a total lack of accountability. Last week it was everyone basically implying Hird was a victim in the Essendon doping programme. As if everyone was at fault other than him. Laughable. This week it's Kyrgios. Threw two sets in a tennis match after getting suspended for throwing a match last year (one of the lowest acts in sport), could argue that he threw a match at the Hopman Cup, and now Kyrgios as an equally high number of white knights coming out of the wood work to make every excuse in the book for him. Throwing matches should be treated the same as failing a drug test. If you get caught, you're a cheat. No excuses about your trainer giving you the wrong medication because that's the kind of excuse that a cheat would use when caught.
Bee bee
Guest
"You don't see footballers carrying on to this extent....." Ummmm. Maybe you need to think more carefully about that one. "He is a disgrace to his country...." Maybe you should take a becks and head back to your game of lawn bowls. I think Dawn Fraser is calling you.
Bee bee
Guest
Footballers do stuff a thousand times worse. Are you serious. Assaulting women, racial abuse, drink driving. OMG. The guy has a few Tantys on a court and people are calling for him to be whipped , beaten and a disgrace to our great nation. He never threatened anyone with physical violence. All he did was play tennis in a way you did not like. With a bit of a chip on his shoulder. Makes you wonder who the knobs really are in this great nation.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Nicely put sheek
Bee bee
Guest
There are a lot of advocates for therapeutic violence on this thread. NK is not threatening to clip punch or kick anyone. All he did was not play tennis the way you want him to. And then you call him a knob.
Geoff Schaefer
Guest
Well said torchbearer, nailed it!
Macca
Guest
"Nick doesn’t owe the fans anything regardless" No he owes the fans his best effort - unfortunately this is too often too much for him.
northerner
Guest
No, he's not free to do as he pleases: that's why he got sanctioned after Shanghai. He must perform to the best of this ability or he's in violation of the Code of Conduct.
northerner
Guest
Nick has the behaviour of a child. When a child misbehaves, responsible adults do not enable the behaviour - they reprimand the child, they send him to the naughty corner, once upon a time they even spanked the child. The reason is simple: children need to understand that actions have consequences, and need to learn to think about what those consequences might be before they do whatever silly thing they're thinking about doing. Learning where the behavioural lines are drawn is no different from learning where the lines on a tennis court are drawn, and what happens when you go outside them. It's time Nick learned that, and time people stopped excusing his behaviour.
Bring Back...?
Guest
Hewitt certainly had his "moments" but I don't recall him carrying on like Kyrgios does. I'm no expert but it seems Hewitt had half the talent but 3 times the fight/desire. That's why we got behind him. Agassi was unlikeable early but everyone ended up loving him.
GC Dave
Guest
You call his rubbish immaturity, There is no excuse for his behaviour, his go or his attitude. The guy is grown man, his problem is he is always looking for excuses and people give him the ammunition. He need to own up to his actions...actually take responsibility for his unacceptable life so far.
Bee bee
Guest
I think that's a good move but it must put people who limp through a match and eventually lose under significant scrutiny.
Bee bee
Guest
I found Hewitt very hard to like early in career for the same reason. Over time I came to realise (he mellowed a lot as well.) That his behaviour was a result of being hyper-competitive not caused by being essentially an "ugly human." I understand your point. Lets hope he is able to mature as Hewitt did without the curse of being ravaged by injury.
clipper
Guest
Good point Barto - If you''re into betting, then Nick would offer a good chance to make some extra money, if you could pick when he's having a bad day - pick that when he's playing lower ranked players and you could make a tidy profit. Some goes for injury prone players, pick when they might be carrying an niggling injury and you could up your odds, although now they've stopping paying out on forfeits, that's not so easy anymore.
Bring Back...?
Guest
I actually don't think he threw the match the other night and the fact he lost the match has no bearing on my views about him. Like (I suspect) many Australians, I want to support my fellow Australians on the World stage. Because of his body language, arrogance and apparent lack of care, I can't bring myself to support him. I have no idea what he is like as a person however from what we see he appears to have no respect for others and that, for me, is an ugly human.
Barto
Guest
Betting is purely a guessing game of what you think might happen. Surely, with Nick's well documented fragile mental state, no one could be aggrieved that they lost a bet on him. Nick doesn't owe the fans anything regardless - if you don't like him, don't watch him.
Macca
Guest
Barto - How much money do you think was bet on the game? We don't accept jockeys giving up on their horse because the couldn't be bothered.
Barto
Guest
Hang on, he isn't impacting anyone elses investments. And he gets paid based on his performance via prize money - so the only person his antics are affecting is himself. If it were a team sport, then you could throw the book at him. But its not, so he is free to do as he pleases.
Macca
Guest
SO whats the difference between you, me and Nick Kyrgios - we didn't do our stupid things in our work place. If at 21 any of us deliberately sabotaged our job that directly impacted other peoples investments there would be serious repercussions. And we weren't being paid millions of dollars to do our job either.