Nick Kyrgios hits out at tennis pundits after stepping into new TV role
Nick Kyrgios has tried his hand at punditry in the last few weeks while he continues his recovery from injury. But the Australian admits he is not a fan of some former players giving their opinions on modern tennis.
Kyrgios has been working for The Tennis Channel since mid-November. He has dabbled with some commentary and had a glimpse of what life could be like once he hangs up his racket.
The 28-year-old has played just one match in 2023 and has already ruled himself out of next year’s Australian Open. He has been able to watch a lot more tennis while being on the sidelines.
And one aspect of the sport he is not happy with is the opinions of some ex-professionals on TV. Kyrgios told The Athletic: “Sometimes it’s hard to watch these old heads kind of break down the game all the time for new fans. It’s like some of the stuff they say doesn’t make sense.
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“Jim Courier is really good, the way he articulates things, but some of these other people, I’m just like, ‘What are you talking about?’. Like, ‘How do you know?’”
Kyrgios is particularly irked by pundits who claim stars of previous eras would be equally as effective in the modern game. He added: “The game was so slow back then.
“I’ve watched Boris Becker and I’m not saying they weren’t good in their time, but to say that they would be just as good now, it’s absurd. A big serve back then was like 197 to 200 (km per hour). People like me, we serve 220 consistently, to corners. It’s a whole different ball game.”
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Fourteen-time men’s singles Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras called it a day as a professional in 2003. Kyrgios claimed there were already signs that tennis had moved on from the American before he retired.
He added: “I’m not saying they wouldn’t have found their way. But serve and volley, to do it all the time now, you need to be serving 220, because if you serve anything less than 220, bro, [Novak] Djokovic eats you alive. He eats you alive.
“Bro, Lleyton Hewitt destroyed Sampras one year at the US Open. That was the first prototype of someone who could return serve.
“He made Sampras look like s**t. And what would Djokovic do to someone like Sampras? It would be a cleanup. If Hewitt was doing it, Djokovic would destroy him. He would eat him alive.”
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