The 2024 US Open has been and gone. There was plenty to write home about: American players in the Men’s and Women’s finals at their home slam for the first time since 2002. Donald Young retired from professional tennis and made it to the Mixed Doubles Final alongside compatriot Taylor Townsend in his last-ever tournament. Aryna Sabalenka avenged her loss in the Finals from last year. Andy Roddick was set free from his much-loathed title of the last American male to make it to a Slam final. There has been one blight on the proceedings, however: ESPN providing a platform for Nick Kyrgios.
This year, Kyrgios was also invited to commentate for the BBC during Wimbledon and conducted on-court interviews with players after their match wins at the Australian Open. Having been inactive on tour since the end of 2022 due to various injuries, the former world no.13 has been working to keep himself relevant in the tennis world as he prepares for a 2025 comeback on the court.
Second Serve
During his tenure at ESPN, Kyrgios exposed his inability to be neutral or objective, perhaps important qualities of reporters and commentators. Instead of weighing in on tennis matters outside of his commentating duties, Kyrgios seemed more interested in leveling misogynistic comments at his ex-girlfriend, WTA player Anna Kalinskaya.
In a now-deleted reply to a Tweet picturing Kalinskaya and current partner Jannik Sinner (also the winner of this year’s US Open, for the record), Kyrgios referred to Kalinskaya as a ‘Second serve’.
Charming. No points for guessing what he meant by this.
Many were shocked that Kyrgios was not pulled from on-air commentary during the tournament’s finals, as his Tweet was published ahead of the Women’s Final on Saturday. One could suppose that ESPN does not view itself as responsible for what its commentators choose to espouse, but there are precedents for networks penalizing contributors for failing to uphold basic standards.
Pattern of Behaviour
Kyrgios has committed a number of infractions over the years. From attempting to humiliate fellow player Stan Wawrinka by informing him that another player had slept with his partner at the time, Donna Vekic, to general bad behaviour on the court, Kyrgios is certainly a fan of stirring up controversy around himself. Though he apologized for the comments about Vekic, the indecent comments made about Kalinskaya this year indicate a slip in his standards.
As Jon Wertheim points out, Kyrgios’s off-colour comments about Vekic were chalked up to his young age. Can the same excuses be made almost ten years later for similar comments made about Kalinskaya? If excuses had been made based on youth and inexperience, the question must be asked if the same slack can be cut for Kyrgios at 29.
Keeping Tennis in Repute
Commentating jobs (i.e., being allowed to hold such a public-facing position) allow for a certain level of image rehabilitation, something which should, generally, be permitted – as long as he who seeks rehabilitation has atoned for past actions. So long as Kyrgios continues to behave in a disrespectful and inappropriate manner towards others – there should be no place for him to speak on objective sporting matters. No matter the praise for his exciting and relevant commentary, ESPN and other broadcasters who have sought his services over the course of the year should not allow him to stake a claim to relevancy, a status Kyrgios has proven he will use in part to promote inappropriate viewpoints on other players.
On a positive note, ESPN did, however, strike gold with their employment of active ATP player Christopher Eubanks. Eubanks ticks all of the boxes Kyrgios does, except he isn’t included towards being inflammatory as well as informative. He is familiar with the tour as it stands. He had a fabulous rapport with the players when he conducted on-court interviews.
Perhaps if Kyrgios was a modicum apologetic for his actions, then a commentating gig as a way back into the tennis fan’s consciousness wouldn’t seem as distasteful as it does. But, as it stands, drawing Kyrgios back into relevancy is proving divisive, if not harmful. With tennis having something of a mainstream renaissance, it is important that it puts its best foot forward in trying to capitalize on the mounting interest. Kyrgios certainly does not make himself an attractive ambassador for the game.
Sue
October 12, 2024 at 7:56 pm
Correction.one. Kyrgios was not accused of any sort of domestic violence. He was alleged to have pushed aside a person who was preventing him from closing the door of a taxi in which he was attempting to leave the scene of an argument. The case did not proceed beyond a magistrate.
Two. Kyrgios and his girlfriend had been bombarded with hundreds of disgusting comments for three weeks including dozens using the photo of Anna without her permission. Costeen’s courage and loyalty were extraordinary in the face of such misogyny by sinnerfam.
Three. You must learn to check your sources if you are to succeed in journalism