Nick Kyrgios – the gift that keeps on giving.
After Australia’s golden girl of tennis Ash Barty received the Newcombe Medal for a record-breaking fifth time, Krygios let the world know that she was not a worthy recipient and that maybe he should have been crowned the winner.
World number 22 took to social media on Tuesday to vent his frustrations, just hours after Barty received her award on Monday night.
“LOL (laugh out loud),” Kyrgios wrote in an Instagram post.
“No respect at all. I don’t give a f—.”
He commented on top of a Sportskeeda post comparing the two champions and their feats in 2022. It showed that Kyrgios had won four titles to Barty’s three and played in 61 matches to Barty’s 14.
Kyrgios had a memorable 2022 including winning the Australian Open doubles win with Thanasi Kokkinakis as well as being runner-up to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final.
The loud-mouthed star isn’t shy of a little controversy. This year alone, he spat towards a fan who he alleged was verbally abusing him during his Wimbledon campaign, he was sued for defamation after claiming a woman in the crowd was ‘drunk out of her mind’ and looked ‘like she had 700 drinks’ and has a court case pending with assault charge from a former girlfriend.
Despite his bad boy image, Kyrgios feels this is the first time he has earned ‘respect’ from the Australian public.
“I feel like this is the first year I’ve earned respect when it should have been given when I first came on tour,” he said.
“I’ve represented them, put them on the map, and having produced one of the most successful male years in the last decade for Australia, and am only just getting embraced (now), I don’t think that’s my fault.”
“Maybe if Australia embraced me a little bit more, I would play it and bring home the trophy.
“But who knows?”
“I can travel around the world playing exhibitions around this time of year for six figures – you know I feel I put myself in that position – so it’s an easy one for me.
“I’ll easily take time with my family and my girlfriend and enjoy experiences around the world and earn that type of money rather than play a week away in something where I wouldn’t be able to be with my girlfriend and I’m not getting paid that well.”
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Despite the fact he may have won more tournaments, Barty took home a grand slam, breaking Australia’s women’s title drought since 1978.
After taking out the Australian Open in January, Barty announced her retirement from tennis in March. Despite the 47-match difference between herself and Kyrgios this year, Barty was still seen as the worthy recipient and was ‘honoured’ to win the award.
“It’s obviously an amazing way to cap off what has been an incredible journey,” Barty told reporters.
“The journey of a lifetime, the journey of me chasing after my dreams and exploring what was possible out in the world.”
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