Advertisement

Kyrgios declares he will quit tennis if he wins US Open

Nick Kyrgios is toying with Australian tennis fans.

Nick Kyrgios is toying with Australian tennis fans. Photo: Getty

Australian hot head Nick Kyrgios has announced he will quit tennis if he wins the US Open.

Kyrgios, who missed the Rio Olympics after a very public spat with the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), made the announcement during a spontaneous Q&A session on Twitter on Tuesday.

“Are you really gonna quit before 27?” asked one user, referencing a previous quote from the talented up-and-comer in the New York Times magazine.

“Probs before,” replied Kyrgios, before surprising everyone with the comment: “If I won the US Open now [you] would never see me again.”

Responses to other fan questions also revealed Kyrgios prefers cigarettes over beer or wine and is “in love” with his girlfriend, fellow tennis player Ajla Tomljanovic.

Kyrgios, whose best results to date have been quarter-final berths at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, has increasingly voiced his disdain for the sport since a sexually-explicit sledge against Stan Wawrinka last year put him in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

The 21-year-old has been chastised for loving basketball over tennis, accused of tanking and told to “go back to where his parents came from” by swimming great Dawn Fraser.

The world number 16, who has won two titles this year, was due to meet Bernard Tomic in the third round until Tomic fell at the tournament’s first hurdle.

kyrgios tomic

Bernard Tomic’s first round exit spared him a showdown with Nick Kyrgios. Photo: Getty

Stay classy, Vekic

Elsewhere in Flushing Meadows, Croatian Donna Vekic took aim at Polona Hercog for withdrawing from her match after just 33 minutes.

Hercog, who pocketed a tidy $43,000 for her brief bout with world number two Angelique Kerber, retired at 6-0, 1-0 down after suffering dizzy spells and cramps in the 32 degree heat.

Vekic – who, despite not qualifying, could have been called up as a ‘lucky loser’ had Hercog withdrawn before the match – tweeted a sarcastic message to Hercog after hearing the news.

“Classy”, wrote Vekic, replying to a Women’s Tennis Association tweet announcing Hercog had retired from the match.

The response from Hercog and Twitter users was unsurprisingly negative, with the Slovenian telling reporters she didn’t know why Hercog “would judge like that”.

“I don’t really know what to say to that because she doesn’t know what was really going on … It’s not my fault she lost [in] the last round of qualies [qualifying].”

Twitter users told Vekic – who last year was the victim of Kyrgios’ sexually explicit jibe towards Wawrinka – to focus on winning her own matches.

Djokovic sings and dances

He’s a crowd favourite for a good reason.

Novak Djokovic easily progressed to the second round, but admitted singer Phil Collins’ performance had been a hard act to follow.

Then he broke into song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw-eRp-d2-4

Dressing like a tennis ball

Rarely a grand slam goes by without players’ uniforms causing a stir, and this time it was fluoro colours on the chopping board.

Americans Jack Sock and Taylor Fritz may have felt like they were looking into a mirror when they met each other in the first round.

Both sponsored by Nike, Sock and Fritz were kitted out in matching fluoro yellow, causing some viewers to declare they looked like tennis balls.

A number of viewers complained that the colour hurt their eyes, while others dubbed it Nike’s “highlighter pen” collection.

Fluoro is a well-covered issue on the ATP tour, after players including Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal raised eyebrows in their fluoro during the Australian Open in 2015.

rafael nadal australian open

Nadal in his glary gear during the Australian Open last year. Photo: Getty

At the time, Nike even spruiked the uniforms as being a distraction to opponents.

“The spring 2015 Nike Tennis collection was conceived to utilise striking colour choices and disruptive patterns as a competitive advantage for performance tennis,” read the product description.

Viewers had one more gripe in the Sock vs Fritz match: Nike hadn’t bothered to dress them in different outfits.

Advertisement
Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter.
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.