And then the mind recalls how he once told Stan Wawrinka mid-match that “Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend”. How last year he admitted in court to assaulting an ex-girlfriend before a magistrate spared him a criminal record because the incident was “a single act of stupidity or frustration”. And how he was a previous retweeter of renowned misogynist Andrew Tate. How to reconcile all this with the fragile kid from Canberra who just wants to be loved?
Andrea Petkovic this week pointed out this contradiction in her latest Substack blog post. “Nick Kyrgios on X. His escapades on there make me sad (and angry but mostly sad),” wrote the German former world No.9. “He could be truly fantastic on TV but he keeps self-sabotaging with misogynist nonsense … unfortunately, he taints it with his online persona.
Nick Kyrgios interviews Novak Djokovic on court at this year’s Australian Open.Credit: Getty
“The one thing that makes or breaks somebody on TV is their authenticity and whether people choose to believe them. For anybody who’s heard [former NFL star quarterback] Tom Brady’s first day on TV, Brady is a perfect example. He knows what he’s talking about, of course he does, but he doesn’t sound it (at least he didn’t sound like it on his first day). And that’s where the disconnect comes from. Nick says good things about women’s tennis on air but if he disparages them online, at one point people will stop believing him on air, too.”
The only conclusion to be drawn is that Kyrgios should not be on air for the foreseeable future. Because, charismatic and insightful and vulnerable as he is, these qualities do not offset abusive and misogynistic behaviour. Many people have been through many shitty things throughout their lives, but that in itself is not a valid excuse for treating others poorly. Kyrgios must be held to these same standards, and broadcasters and news outlets must desist from tolerating, validating and normalising the damaging views he has repeatedly demonstrated he holds about women.
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That means past employers such as Eurosport, ESPN and the BBC should exercise some responsibility by ensuring he is not a part of their future coverage. It means this masthead should not allow him to write columns, as it did during the 2024 Australian Open. And it means Nine Entertainment Co, the owner of this masthead and Australian Open broadcast rights holder until 2029, should not consider hiring him as a pundit when he does retire and make moves into tennis commentary – plans which have both been publicly expressed.
This view is not born out of hate. I have long sympathised with many parts of Kyrgios, admire him as a player and enjoy him as a commentator. It is, frankly, the only rational outcome until he offers some solid, consistent evidence of change. All we have presently is a Kyrgios tweet in response the “second serve” criticism indicating he does not understand. “Abusive? What’s abusive about what I said?” he wrote on September 8. “I had no intention to say anything about it. People wanna go there deal with the consequences.”
Perhaps the best piece of advice is the one he told that Tennis Insider Club podcast episode that he would give his 15-year-old self: “Don’t ever get on social media.”
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