‘Nick off!’ – Australian media slam Kyrgios
MELBOURNE: Australian media urged Nick Kyrgios to get a coach, get serious or get out of the game on Thursday after his tempestuous second round exit from his home Australian Open.
Kyrgios, playing his f i rst tournament after serving an ATP ban for misconduct, was jeered off the court by sections of the Hisense Arena crowd after squandering a two- set lead and throwing a tantrum to lose in five sets to Italian Andreas Seppi.
The 21-year- old also showed an obvious lack of mobility around the court toward the end of the match which he blamed on a knee injury and poor conditioning but he was accused of not trying by tennis great and TV pundit John McEnroe.
Kyrgios said he needed a coach to help him with his mental game and was consulting a sports psychologist but there was precious little sympathy in any of Australia’s major daily newspapers.
Brisbane’s Courier Mail had a huge splash of Kyrgios on its back page with the graphic of a baby’s dummy being spat from his mouth.
“Now Nick off,” the headline read. “Kyrgios loses and acts like a child doing it.”
The Australian newspaper led with the headline: “Kyrgios adds to shame file.”
“Pride has brought him undone. And the fear of commitment. He’s scared of how great he could be,” an editorial in the paper said.
“It ’ s been cooler to exude indifference. Get a coach. Get professional. Or get out of here.”
Australia’s former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash, who claimed last year to have discussed a coaching role with the Kyrgios camp, said he would not last “one minute” as his mentor.
“Why would I want to get involved in a job like that?” Cash told Melbourne radio station 3AW.
“If it was Lleyton Hewitt, the same thing, Bernard Tomic or Nick Kyrgios or Andy Murray. If they started screaming at me and abusing me in the box, I would just pack up and walk out. I’ve got too much respect for myself.”
Kyrgios won three titles in his most consistent season last year but his campaign ended with an ATP ban after he abused spectators, the chair umpire and walked off court during a point in his exit from the Shanghai Masters. — Reuters