Nick Kyrgios makes pointed change ahead of potential return to tennis

Nick Kyrgios seems to have relished being one of the bad boys of tennis and he has done a good job with that. On social media, the Australian has not been afraid to issue a barbed remark. In fact, his reputation is partly based on that. He is testy and argumentative, but somehow extremely compelling.

Recently, however, there have been some notable changes. They also seem to mirror his work covering Wimbledon for ESPN. On X/Twitter, Kyrgios has been less combative and far more generally complimentary of others. He has pointed out ESPN colleagues and stated how amazing they have been to work with. He hasn't put himself first but has taken a bit of the proverbial backseat to commentators such as John McEnroe.

In fact, Kyrgios looks only better because he worked with the American. McEnroe knows the story, of course, but no one would argue he is exceedingly well-prepared for matches. Often, he does not seem to know who an opponent of a well-known player is. He can sometimes stray from what is happening on the court as well and ask his fellow broadcasters odd questions.

Nick Kyrgios could be preparing for a more permanent move to commentating on tennis

Kyrgios did not do that during his Wimbledon commentary run. He was subdued but informative. He made excellent critiques of players on both the men's and women's sides. He chose to blend in instead of stand out. In other words, exactly what a broadcaster is supposed to do. He began commentating during the ATP Finals and in less than a year, he has become a fantastic watch.

The Aussie was also seen practicing with Novak Djokovic at the grass-court major. Kyrgios is an excellent player on the surface so Djokovic, who defeated Kyrgios in the 2022 Wimbledon final, found the perfect player to partner with. The Serb did hint that Kyrgios might be ready for a return to playing professional tennis, but that was likely a joke.

Maybe the Australian does return to playing tennis, but his commentary work and his social media presence appear to hint that he might be about to turn full-time to simply talking about tennis instead of playing matches.

That might not turn out to be true, but if it does, tennis fans should be happy. Kyrgios is young enough to turn into a long-term stable of broadcasts and he would offer great insight and fantastic personality during high-level matches.

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