Mats Wilander: ‘Nick Kyrgios on-court behaviour atrocious and horrible’
Grand Slam Legend Mats Wilander has labelled the recent on-court behaviour and outbursts of Nick Kyrgios as “atrocious” and “horrible”, amid fears that it is negatively affecting the younger generation.
Kyrgios has had a great start to the season having reached the quarter-finals at the Indian Wells Masters and winning his first ever Grand Slam at the Australian Open in the men’s doubles.
However his performances have somewhat been overshadowed by the Australian’s persistent misconduct on the court. At the Indian Wells Masters, he was fined $20,000 (£15,000) for unsportsmanlike conduct and $5,000 (£3,700) for an audible obscenity.
Nick Kyrgios was in hot water with the authorities again only a week later at the Miami Open as he was fined for four separate offences, amassing to a total of $35,000 (£25,000).
His most recent rage-fuelled came at the ATP Houston Open where Kyrgios was given a point penalty after his second warning for foul language which ultimately cost him the match.
In light of the recent outbursts and behaviour by the World number 77, seven-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander believes that this sort of behaviour is totally unacceptable – especially due to the impact it may be having upon the younger generation.
“I actually think it’s horrible,” he said. “I think breaking a racket on a tennis court is the lowest for me because most kids, they cannot afford to buy tennis rackets.
“And I do know from Lleyton Hewitt telling me that every kid in Australia basically, is doing what Nick Kyrgios does.
“I’m not saying they’re throwing rackets and whatever, but they hit the ball like Nick Kyrgios and that’s kind of bad enough in a way because Nick is so talented, but he doesn’t use his feet at all in any of his shots. He just slaps it with his arm. And they look up to these guys. So I think it’s atrocious.”
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