The dress code for Wimbledon, the oldest of the four Grand Slam tournaments, is all white. When Nick Kyrgios came in with a black hat in his court interview, he was spreading a message.
Kyrgios is an extremely talented Australian tennis player with contradictory thoughts about the rules of professional tennis. He remains the game’s great outlaw. He is not afraid to jaw with, spit towards, or argue with judges and umpires. He yells at workers for not keeping stands filled with fresh towels and blankets, smashes rackets, and pulls tantrums on the court. One racket ricocheted off of the ground and hit a ball boy’s face, leading to tens of thousands of dollars in fines.
As he walks back onto the court, he remains one of the most dangerous servers out there. Hitting the ball between his legs, curling forehands, and underhanded aces. He is the time bomb on the stage, and everyone always anticipates his detonation.
When he loses, it is always someone else’s fault. When he wins, it is the result of an extraordinary play of his and that he has overcome all manner of forces against him – harsh ratings from the Press, the tennis establishment, and the fans who have hurled racial slurs at him.
That Saturday afternoon, Kyrgios faced off against Stephanos Tsitsipas, who struggled to maintain his lead, stating to the umpire that he was the only one on the court who wanted to play tennis while the other was turning the match into a circus. Then, he took matters a step further by hitting Kyrgios with a tennis ball. The crowd of 10,000 grew louder with each peg.
The intensity rose when Kyrgios hit three unreturnable balls, a signature half-volley into the open court; a ripped backhand winner and a drop shot from the baseline that died on the turf just beyond Tsitsipas’s reach.
Tsitsipas, now full of anger that Kyrgios had beaten him two times in a month, said that his fellow players need to impose rules against Kyrgios’ reign, which many believe to be cheated out. Improper serving methods, lack of respect towards other players, and representing a time bomb ready to go off at any moment make him an unwanted opponent as well as a fierce one.
Kyrgios is an extremely talented Australian tennis player with contradictory thoughts about the rules of professional tennis. He remains the game’s great outlaw. He is not afraid to jaw with, spit towards, or argue with judges and umpires. He yells at workers for not keeping stands filled with fresh towels and blankets, smashes rackets, and pulls tantrums on the court. One racket ricocheted off of the ground and hit a ball boy’s face, leading to tens of thousands of dollars in fines.
As he walks back onto the court, he remains one of the most dangerous servers out there. Hitting the ball between his legs, curling forehands, and underhanded aces. He is the time bomb on the stage, and everyone always anticipates his detonation.
When he loses, it is always someone else’s fault. When he wins, it is the result of an extraordinary play of his and that he has overcome all manner of forces against him – harsh ratings from the Press, the tennis establishment, and the fans who have hurled racial slurs at him.
That Saturday afternoon, Kyrgios faced off against Stephanos Tsitsipas, who struggled to maintain his lead, stating to the umpire that he was the only one on the court who wanted to play tennis while the other was turning the match into a circus. Then, he took matters a step further by hitting Kyrgios with a tennis ball. The crowd of 10,000 grew louder with each peg.
The intensity rose when Kyrgios hit three unreturnable balls, a signature half-volley into the open court; a ripped backhand winner and a drop shot from the baseline that died on the turf just beyond Tsitsipas’s reach.
Tsitsipas, now full of anger that Kyrgios had beaten him two times in a month, said that his fellow players need to impose rules against Kyrgios’ reign, which many believe to be cheated out. Improper serving methods, lack of respect towards other players, and representing a time bomb ready to go off at any moment make him an unwanted opponent as well as a fierce one.
