Tennis Prose




Oct/16

12

Kyrgios Creates Chaos in Shanghai

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Australian star Nick Kyrgios is at it again – the natural born controversy starter unleashed yet another strange eruption in Shanghai.

Days after winning his third ATP singles title of the season in Tokyo, Kyrgios dogged it today in losing 6-3 6-1 to 110th-ranked qualifier Mischa Zverev in a weird encounter that lasted just 48 minutes.

The usually respectful Chinese fans were disgusted with Kyrgios’s poor effort and expressed it by heavily booing what they were subjected to.

After the debacle, the ATP no 14 Kyrgios was defiant and defensive – insisting he does not “owe (the ticket buying fans) anything. I feel like if they knew what they were talking about they’d be on the tennis court and being successful, as well. No, I can’t really understand (the booing) at all. They don’t know what I’m going through.”

In the second set, the 20 year old Kyrgios actually began walking in the direction to his chair before Zverev’s serve even landed.

It was a chaotic scene with Kyrgios arguing with a heckler as well as the chair umpire Ali Nili. Another bizarre act by Kyrgios was him tapping a soft serve like a beginner into Zverev’s return box as he was broken for 4-1 in the opening set.

Apparently totally unmotivated today (or blatantly tanking) after winning his first rounder vs Sam Querrey 64 64 Kyrgios lost all five break points he faced vs Zverev, and did not even take a step for some shots. Kyrgios even verbally attacked fans afterward saying: “If you don’t like it… just leave.”

The Twilight Zone circus show continued: “I’m good at hitting a tennis ball at the net. Like, big deal. I don’t owe them anything. It’s like it’s my choice. If you don’t like it, I didn’t ask you to come watch. Just leave. If you’re so good at giving advice and so good at tennis, why aren’t you as good as me? Why aren’t you on the tour?”

Kyrgios also received an audible obscenity warning and argued with a fan as Zverev was ready to serve for the match. “You wanna come here and play? Sit down and shut up and watch,” Kyrgios snapped at the guy who bought his ticket to see a professional tennis match.

Kyrgios was a bit gentler after the loss, conceding that he “tapped out a little bit” and “took the easy way out” and he still feels like “a work in progress.” But you have to wonder if tennis fans will tolerate this guy’s crude rebel act – or will they revolt by spending their hard earned money on other forms of entertainment?

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61 comments

  • Hartt · October 16, 2016 at 1:12 pm

    Had not paid much attention to Bautista Agut until this tourney. Was pleasantly surprised at how well he played until the 2nd set of the Final when Murray pretty well took over. He is now at No. 13 in the live tennis ranking, up one from his career high of 14. So good for him to keep working and improving. At 28 he still has a few years remaining in his career.

    The other player who improved his ranking is Jack Sock who is at No. 13 in doubles after winning the title in Shanghai. It looks like he will be at No. 23 in singles. I read that he is the only ATP player who is in the top 25 in both.

  • Scoop Malinowski · October 16, 2016 at 2:56 pm

    Catherine: Graf and certain people are just private people and not public people even though her career was in the public – It really was fascinating that a person so shy and private like Graf was able to achieve such a public career and excel as she did despite not really liking all the attention – I’d go as far to say Graf was the most shy and private sports superstar who ever lived –

  • Scoop Malinowski · October 16, 2016 at 2:58 pm

    Catherine: A player told me media training tells the player to “talk to the media as if you are talking to your grandmother” – true story –

  • Scoop Malinowski · October 16, 2016 at 3:03 pm

    Hartt: I do Biofiles on all sports players and they are all interesting – but when the players are asked about the game or their team they can be pretty basic and bland – well tennis players can be that way too talking about tennis – Sharapova once said she gets asked the same questions every week and she doesn’t even need to think she just talks out the answer like it’s now instinct – to spout off the same old cliches – I created the Biofile in 1992 to ask athletes/subjects different questions and provoke different responses –

  • Scoop Malinowski · October 16, 2016 at 3:04 pm

    Wont happen now is right – no player ever directly disses another player like that – thank Political Correctness or this –

  • Hartt · October 16, 2016 at 5:51 pm

    Scoop, the fact that you ask different questions and therefore don’t get canned answers is a big part of why your Biofiles are so interesting. The reader feels they are getting to know the player a little bit. Maybe the tennis journalists need to get more creative with their questions. One thing I would ask if had the opportunity is which great player of a past era would you like to play against and why? Think this would tell us something about the current player.

  • Scoop Malinowski · October 16, 2016 at 7:44 pm

    Thank you for the kind words Hartt – I still enjoy doing Biofiles as much now as ever before and been doing them since 1992 – That is a very good question to ask players and could lead to some interesting answers – also to ask the ex players if there is a current (or different era player) they would have loved to play – think I will experiment with those questions next chances I get –

  • catherine bell · October 17, 2016 at 2:48 am

    Scoop –

    I think Chris was trying to put a rocket under Hana somehow – maybe shock her into dealing with her problems on court.
    Didn’t work though – Hana lost another W’don final to Martina – same sloppy way. Although she did beat her at USO – good match I remember.

    Hartt – reporters tend to ask the same questions because mostly they write their stories in the same way. But I read a while ago Federer’s response to some guy who wanted F to talk him through the match practically and F said, basically, ‘I’ve got other things to do. That’s your job.’

  • Dan Markowitz · October 17, 2016 at 6:38 am

    The key to interviewing is finding a player who’s a good subject. A lot of these guys will say interesting things if you get them out of the press room setting and have a one on one with them. Gullible is one guy, at least earlier in his career, who could be very personal and creative with his responses. Spadea was not as open, but I was amazed the first time I talked to him at the 2005 US Open about what it was like having his father as his main coach until he was 25, on how open, funny and even outwardly friendly he was when I talked to him.

    Even a guy like Marcelo Rios, when I talked to him once at New Haven, had more to say than when he was at the podium in a press room. I once talked to Sampras at his locker at the US Open when he was practicing during the Qualis and he was much more approachable too. Its as much or more about where and when you engaged players as it is to the questions you ask, but some players are just more interesting and more verbal than others. One of the best interviews I ever did was with Arthur Ashe over the phone.

  • Scoop Malinowski · October 17, 2016 at 8:16 am

    Thanks Catherine I really enjoy those old quotes – would love to read a collection – Hana was a different type personality- I spoke with her in Florida last year for Facing McEnroe -she’s very intense and serious – she has two daughters who are very good and one played Eddie Herr and did quite well –

  • catherine bell · October 17, 2016 at 10:02 am

    Scoop –

    Some years ago I did a book of collected articles (mine) which has quite a lot of those kind of quotes scattered through it.
    I’d never publicise my own works 🙂 🙂 but it’s been out there for a while now and is still on Amazon I think. Called Different Courts.

    Hana – all of us who watched and suffered with her always felt promise unfulfilled, perpetual frustration and a bit of real sadness that her career didn’t contain more big trophies.
    (Halep reminds me of her slightly – though not in style obviously)

    I think she also has a son ? Read a mention of him when you covered Eddie Herr last year. Hana idolised Martina early on – wonder how much M’s constant presence and achievement affected her.

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