At some point, Nick Kyrgios will surely get bored being more famous for being an idiot than a very fine tennis player, but his latest outburst, which could earn him a year’s suspension, suggests that day is not at hand.
It is likely that when the Australian time bomb called the Association of Tennis Professionals “corrupt” after winning in the first round here on day two he had little regard for the consequences, or even meant what he said.
Having slept on it, he resorted to social media to clarify his position, although the ATP are likely to need further persuasion that a player they have cajoled and supported in equal measure over the years is worth their continued support. They are looking into the context and substance of his comments to see if they constitute violation of their rules governing a, “major player offence”.
Kyrgios, fined $113,000 for a string of child-like outbursts and racket-smashing in Cincinnati recently, was asked if the penalties had affected his mentality coming into this tournament. “Not at all,” he said after beating the American Steve Johnson in three sets on Tuesday. “ATP’s pretty corrupt, anyway, so I’m not fussed about it at all.”
He was, apparently, fussed – as he confessed on Twitter on Wednesday. “I would like to go on record to clarify my comment around the ATP being corrupt,” he tweeted. “It was not the correct choice of words and my point and intention was to address what I see as double standards rather than corruption.
“I know my behaviour at times has been controversial and that has landed me in trouble, which at times is granted and valid but my issue is around others whether gaining the same, less or more media attention doing the same or similar behaviour and not being sanctioned.
“That’s my issue and it continues to be. To be clear, I know I’m not perfect and do not pretend to be and I acknowledge I’ve deserved fines and sanctioning at times but I expect consistency and fairness with this across the board, to date that’s not happened. I’ve had huge support from Chris Kermode and have given it in return, so I want to clarify my comments but stand by my beliefs and sentiment around double standards.”
Kermode, the ATP’s outgoing executive chairman, could hardly have done more to help Kyrgios cope with his serial misdemeanours, chiefly leading him towards psychiatric help after one of his many early-career spats. Kyrgios seemed to benefit from that, but still struggles to contain his rage.
Kyrgios owes the sport. The 24-year-old world No 30 has won six titles, reached eight ATP finals and has earned $7.8m. His first-round win added $58,000 to his bank account. If they are corrupt, he is doing rather well on the back of it.
If he is to progress at the US Open – where a cheque of $100,000 awaits the winner in round two – he will have to get past the French wildcard, Antoine Hoang, on Thursday and then beat either Andrey Rublev, who upset his friend, Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round, or Gilles Simon, who takes no prisoners. It is on court, as ever, where Kyrgios will have to face the bottom-line reality of his sport. The rest is fluff.
