Thursday, August 13, 2015

Thoughts on Nick Kyrgios' latest debacle and his below-the-belt comment directed towards Stan Wawrinka


Here are some thoughts and takeaways from what happened between Nick Kyrgios and Stan Wawrinka on Wednesday night during their second round match in Montreal. These are some scattered thoughts and are in no particular order…

* Let’s just preface any comment on Nick’s actions by saying: yes, I find Wawrinka allegedly dating a teenager was/is wildly creepy (it's also none of my business). That doesn’t excuse any of Nick’s behavior on court and is far from being the issue right now.

*The fact that women continue to be used in such derogatory manner just for the sake of taking a jab or making a quip at an opponent is both completely unacceptable and sad. We may be in the 21st century but men are still fighting like they were in the dark ages.

*The ATP trying to take down every video and vine of the incident is disappointing, laughable and futile. The fact that they think they can outsmart the internet makes me realize they don’t get it and never will. Instead of pooling their efforts into attempting to hide what is already all over the globe, how about putting out a statement or announcing a suitable fine for the offence? It’s been 11 hours (and counting) since the incident happened yet no word has emerged from their side yet. Such ridiculous use of the time and resources! (UPDATE: The ATP said Kyrgios has been fined $12,500 and is under investigation which could result in further sanctions)
*Many people have been going on and on about how Kyrgios behaves inappropriately on court. The shocking part is he barely gets any code violations or fines. Just the random code for dropping an F-bomb (he dropped MANY while talking to Carlos Bernardes on Wednesday by the way) or smashing a racquet. If umpires and tournament referees were doing their job properly from day one, this kid would have spent half his prize money on fines, maybe gotten defaulted once or twice, and he probably would be keeping his outbursts in check by now. Instead, his behavior is just getting worse which makes you wonder if the ATP is actually happy with his conduct and are even happier to be enabling it.

*Kyrgios’s mother, Nill, and brother, Christos, coming to his defense every time he does something indefensible has just GOT TO STOP. They are not helping him in any way whether from a life-lessons-learned standpoint or from a PR perspective. Nill’s Twitter account was shut down, probably at the behest of his PR time. Christos’ account should be next.

His brother Christos posted this tweet but later deleted it after Kyrgios had said in his on-court interview that Wawrinka had got "lippy" which is why he said those things:


*There is no point in comparing the ATP’s reaction – or lack thereof – to this issue with respect to others in the past, such as Sergiy Stakhovsky’s comments for example, because the lack of reaction to previous incidents doesn’t mean they should continue to do so. This is about Kyrgios’ behavior on Wednesday night and not about anything else.

*History has shown that you can be racist or misogynistic or just plain rude but a few years later people can call you a hero for fighting hard on a tennis court or whatever. Case in point: how many people remember Lleyton Hewitt’s racist innuendos in a conversation with an umpire during his match with James Blake and still hold it against him till this day? Not many. He tried to apologize after that and in simple terms: life goes on. This incident might not define Kyrgios’ future in the sport but what he learns from it certainly could.

*Kyrgios will definitely regret not coming up with a better answer in his on-court interview with Arash Madani. Granted he had just won the match and didn’t have time to think but not thinking before speaking was what got him into this mess to begin with. What he told Wawrinka needlessly dragged two more people into the conversation and that is something Kyrgios will come to deeply regret.

*The one thing Kyrgios had on his side was the fact that many top players – including Andy Murray and Richard Gasquet - have repeatedly said that he is very respectful towards others on tour which implied there is a side to him that many don’t see. This incident shatters that theory.

Here's a quick recap of what happened and some reaction to the incident:

After dropping the first set, Kyrgios told Wawrinka: "Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend, sorry to tell you that, mate."

Wawrinka did not appear to have heard him on court but found out soon after and said this to the press:


And this on Twitter:





Wawrinka's coach, Magnus Norman also tweeted this:

And here are other tweets from his brother, Christos, Victoria Azarenka and more:





10:00pm Dubai time update:
Kyrgios apologizes on Facebook:

"I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for the comments I made during the match last night vs Stan...
Posted by Nick Kyrgios on Thursday, August 13, 2015
Posted by Reem at 5:11 PM 0 comments
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