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Nick Kyrgios: In defence of his apparent tanking

By Geoff Nichols

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Nick Kyrgios: In defence of his apparent tanking

Nick Kyrgios is a divisive figure and that is OK. Everyone is entitled to form their own opinions on him, as they are with every other player on tour. Roger Federer is a player lauded by much of the tennis community, but along with his admirers, he too has his critics.

It is the nature of sport and being in the public eye that actions are magnified. One of the biggest headlines to come out of this years Wimbledon has been the antics of Kyrgios. The moment of note came in his fourth round match, where he seemed to not be fully applying himself.

The crowd and commentators were quick to condemn the Australian for his actions as boos circulated the court. At 15-0 down he hit a very tame forehand into the net, which is entirely forgivable I hasten to add. The fact that that shot already drew jeers from the crowd and moreover criticism from the pundits is extremely worrying.

I think it is in incredibly poor taste how quickly the circling vultures swooped in on the first glimpse of a mental lapse by Kyrgios. This is a 20 year old who is under the most intense of scrutiny, can we stop expecting him to be perfect? At that age everybody makes mistakes.

The next point is where Kyrgios crossed the line and will rightly be fined for lack of effort. He watched a good but not great Gasquet serve sail by, already moving to the other side for the next point. The Australian was riled, most likely from his own failings more than anything.

He will take that hefty fine and that should be the end of it. That after all is why those regulations are in place. It is not a fine and also a public undressing. Some of the comments Kyrgios has been subjected too have been over the top, some even vile.

The prejudiced remarks made by Dawn Fraser were beyond belief. By far and away worse than Kyrgios not trying for three points in a tennis match. The 77 year old hasn’t learnt the basic human trait of tolerance at her age, yet Kyrgios, at 20, is expected to have no character flaws under the most intense of microscopes.

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Arguments vilifying Kyrgios on the basis that the crowd paid money to be there and that it was disrespectful to Gasquet certainly have their merits, but by no means justify the reaction, which has been over the top. If anything Gasquet will have been happy to get an easy service hold.

As for the crowd, any match with Kyrgios is value for money. If he isn’t to your taste, you are not being bound by law to watch him. He fought back admirably after the incident, perhaps benefitting from mentally escaping for a matter of seconds.

Ultimately Kyrgios was in the wrong, but no more than any other player who doesn’t give their all for a couple of points, of which I am sure there are many. A common criticism of modern day tennis, which is a sport in phenomenal shape at the top of the game by the way, is the lack of big personalities.

How can we expect a player to be everything to everyone. Kyrgios’ passion is fantastic to see. Sure it spills over from time to time, but he is still very young and will be learning all the time.

It will be a tremendous shame if he goes into his shell and becomes another run of the mill player to save himself from the abuse he is currently receiving, but given what he is being subjected to tournament after tournament, I for one wouldn’t blame him at all.

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