Nick Kyrgios believes he doesn’t owe anything to tennis fans.
Kyrgios was relentlessly booed during his two round 6-3, 6-1 loss to Mischa Zverev at the Shanghai Open on Wednesday, after a shoddy effort led to a quick defeat at the hand of the 110th ranked player in the world. Kyrgios yelled at fans during the match and had to be told by chair umpire Ali Nili “to act like a professional.”
The 14th ranked tennis star expressed disdain towards fans following the upset loss, telling reporters in Shanghai he didn’t owe them anything.
“What does that even mean? I’m good at hitting a tennis ball at the net. Big deal. I don’t owe them anything,” he said. “If you don’t like it, I didn’t ask you to come watch. Just leave.”
Kyrgios told reporters “I couldn’t care less” about chasing for an ATP finals spot next month.
It’s not exactly a measured response by Kyrgios. The talented Australian often lets the temper get in the way of his talent. Lashing out at people who paid good money to see him won’t do him any favours in getting back in their good books.
Following the match and subsequent press conference, Kyrgios posted an apology on Twitter, stating he was sorry for not being “good enough today on many levels.”
Not good enough today on many levels, I'm better than that. I can go on about excuses but there are none. Sorry #StillAWorkInProgress 🙏🏽😢😞
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) October 12, 2016
Everybody has bad days at work, even star tennis players, so Kyrgios’ play shouldn’t be overly analyzed. But dismissing fans at his post-game press conference was a childish move. He apologized quickly, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Kyrgios showered in boos at future tourneys.
[ESPN]
