Murray: I’ll help bad boy
Andy is keen to help bad boy Kyrgios
ANDY MURRAY is keen to mentor bad boy Nick Kyrgios after the Australian was fined £13,500 for his shocking behaviour at the Shanghai Masters.
Kyrgios, 21, threw away his second- round match against Mischa Zverev on Wednesday — walking off court before the German could return his serve — and clashed with a spectator during his 6-3, 6-1 defeat.
World No 2 Murray, who beat Lucas Pouille 6-1, 6-3 yesterday and faces Belgium’s David Goffin today in the quarter-finals, said: ‘If he ever wanted to talk to me or ask anything, I would be open to that.’
Andy Murray has offered a helping hand to bad boy nick Kyrgios, who was fined £13,500 yesterday for his shocking behaviour at the Shanghai Masters.
The troubled australian threw away his second-round match on Wednesday and clashed with a spectator.
Officials punished Kyrgios (below) for ‘breaches of the ATP code of conduct’, but Murray is not convinced that a fine was the most suitable punishment and yesterday reached out to a player he has always liked.
The world no 2 said: ‘Whether a fine is the best way to discipline young players, I don’t know if that stops (bad behaviour) happening again. Sometimes players need protecting. Sometimes nick says things he regrets. In those situations he maybe needs to be guided better and I’m sure he will learn from that.
‘I chat to him about all sorts of things — tennis and basketball. If he ever wanted to talk to me or ask anything, I would be open to that. you don’t want to see young guys in the spotlight struggling and making mistakes, doing things that hurt them.’
Murray can relate to the mental trauma Kyrgios, 21, is suffering and was grateful for the help of Tim Henman early in his career. He said: ‘I obviously spent a lot of time with Tim when I was very young but I struggled with (the tour) massively.
‘The mental health of players is not discussed. as athletes we’re supposed to be mentally strong and if you talk about feelings or not believing in yourself or struggling to cope with pressure, that’s seen as a negative. The more people speak up about their problems, the better.’
Murray beat Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-1, 6-3 yesterday and today faces Belgian david Goffin for a place in the semi-finals.
JO KONTA’S hopes of qualifying for the WTA Finals in Singapore are in the balance after she pulled out of her second-round match at the Hong Kong Open with an abdominal strain. The British no 1 must now rely on other results going her way because she does not play another tournament before the deadline
next week.