Nick Kyrgios is the People’s Champion

Hmm, I don’t think Kyrgios is so special. Pat Rafter did what nobody has done, as far as tennis champion is concerned: In a remarkable display of generosity, Rafter donated $600,000 of his 1997 and 1998 US Open earnings to the Brisbane Mater Hospital’s Foundation for Terminally Ill Children.

Nice piece Scoop. No doubt Nick has ignited something very special in the hearts and minds of not only the worlds best athletes, but everyday people. What is happening in Australia, with the raging bushfires destroying everything in their tracks, is simply tragic. But to see him step up, to personally do his bit to help, is nothing short of inspiration. As he said tonight “with my platform I can do some pretty special things and thats what this sports done – it’s given me the ability to help and that’s what I try to do and I’m just glad it worked”. He really has started something special and as you said, has shown himself to be the peoples champion.

Accuracy matters. Federer, Roddick, Nadal historically have contributed enormous sums of money to Australia when there’s a disaster, their legacy and what they’ve given to Australia is very strong (and we should all know better than to accept the over the top pronouncements from Mr. Kyrgios at face value).

Again, it’s not a contest but maybe look into it so that the information is correct. Don’t want TP to go the way of TT.

Federer, Nadal, 2011, Queensland: “Tennis stars including Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Australian Samantha Stosur played an exhibition match yesterday seeking to raise at least A$1 million ($989,000) for flood-stricken Queensland state. The players, who are in Melbourne for the Grand Slam tournament starting today, appeared at the so-called “Rally for Relief,” Australian Open organizers said in an e-mailed statement. Kim Clijsters, Lleyton Hewitt, Novak Djokovic and Queenslander and former top-ranked player Pat Rafter also played, according to the statement.”

Result, 2011: “The specially organized Rally for Relief raised nearly $2 million and counting as stars from the ATP and WTA tours gave up their time on the eve of the Australian Open.”

Scoop, are you a reporter or a blogger? If you’re a reporter, you should do some research before killing every top player, who isn’t NK
If you’re a blogger, flame away,

1990: Sampras wins the Grand Slam Cup and donated immediately $200K to Cerebral Palsy Foundation (which he decided to do with his Dad)

Again, not a contest – there’s a tradition of generosity. In fact Scoop wrote an article about the Sampras donation here:
https://www.tennis-prose.com/articles/seles-lambourghini-sampras-wallet-more/

Scoop! I’m not belittling what Kyrgios is doing, I am saying it’s not new – it’s good that he’s doing it and is generous, it can’t be otherwise.

Just that this is what players are expected to do and have traditionally done following natural disasters, and that is all public information. I don’t see any difference between raising $1 through an exhibition for charity and taking it out of their pocket – the players could have done a photo-shoot that day (and maybe even did that, too) or something else.

They didn’t, they used their fame for good cause and at the end of the day guess what, the victim receiving the money appreciates the gesture, whether it’s from Kyrgios or the ATP or WTA handing over the check. The money is the same.

Yes, although I applaud Nick’s initiative, this is not unusual for tennis players. Many have donated $ for disaster relief and/or given their time and energy in exhibitions to raise $. I think we should be proud of many players in this regard.

That said, with $100 being donated for each ace (outside of what players like Nick and Alex are doing), Isner’s 33 aces so far adds up to some serious $, with a lot more to come.

Scoop,

Great piece. It is true that Nick Kyrgios has a heart of gold and is one of the world’s most popular tennis players, resultingly.

I think we underrate two aspects of who Kyrgios is. One is how well he relates to millennials by watching NBA, playing video games and breaking rackets. He is definitely drawing a new type of fan to tennis for this.

And second, I think he is a marketing genius in his own way. His rebel nature is something he knows people love as when he snapped at Christian Ruud about how nobody watches his matches. Kyrgios knows he is “box office” and plays up to it. It reminds me of Agassi’s Nike campaign but Andre became too dedicated to winning and ditched the fake hair, antics, etc so he lost his image is everything brand.

Kyrgios, on the other hand, is committed to not winning because his brand is being a rebel and he knows no one else on the tour can offer that. While his peers focus on improving their games and winning titles, he is focused on his image and Instagram and it helps maintain his brand. Kyrgios will remain box office for this, imagine the Laver Cup without him? He is actually the perfect loser the sport can have as a foil for the greats; Agassi could have done the same thing but he became too focused on winning.

Ellen Perez also suggested donating $ for each ace, and may have been the first to do so. She doesn’t make the big $ that Nick does, so her proposal was more modest. However, on her twitter several athletes, including some from other sports, responded to her initiative with their own pledges. So let’s give Ellen Perez her due!

“For every ace I serve over this Australian summer of tennis I’ll be donating $10 to the bushfire appeal! Lets make 2020 a year of big serving and winning matches for the firefighters and affected communities/families! I encourage others to join me in helping Australia.”

Do $100 per winner or drop shot. Or whichever you have more of: ace, winners, or drop shots. Or $500 per successful drop shot. Or $500 per overhead. Doesn’t matter.

Some wags have suggested that Zverev pledge $ for each DF.

Zverev? $500 per smashed racquet or self-deprecating remark. Guaranteed donations. Not sure why Head Racquets hasn’t dropped him yet, he’s destroyed so many of them. Head shouldnt’ want a marketing strategy of: “buy a lot of them so you can smash a lot of them”

De Minaur is carving out a nice career. He is one of several next generation players making the most of his abilities. I was surprised he didn’t win the next gen finals and to his credit has taken the Sinner loss in stride.

Ka Pliskova is also donating $200 for every ace she hits during the Aus season. Starting off in Brisbane, one of 3 WTA tournaments this week – + Auckland, Shenzhen.

Osaka leads the charge in Brisbane, others inc Barty, Sloane Stephens. WTA insider notes the new coaches for Osaka and Stephens and wisely leaves the options open for Kerber: ‘Kerber has teamed up with Dieter Kindlmann for the start of the 2020 season’…..

Auckland is all about Gauff and Serena. You’d think no one else was playing. I hope Julia wins.

Muguruza is starting off in Hobart, where she won a few years ago. Good decision with new coach Martinez. Cooler and a low key draw.

Serena stopped by a fund raiser at our local tennis center just before she left for Aukland. She looked to be in prime shape. We shall see if she can get #24 this year.

Nick Kyrgios is a Bad Dude!!!!And I mean that in a good way!!!🌠💪🎾💯🏆

The WTA might be lazy regarding their website, but I think the powers that be figured out long ago, that there are very few “ casual” tennis fans, there are either diehards( like posters on T-P,or other boards) and the people that show up to events( slams,Year Enders),and they don’t need to update their site, because diehards will find the info, one way or another

Jerry Garcia used to say “ The Grateful Dead, are like black licorice, not everybody likes black licorice, but the people that do, like it a lot”
Tennis is black licorice

Harold, there is no excuse for the WTA site being this bad. How do they expect to create interest in the WTA if there is little interesting info on the site, and some of it is downright incorrect? The ATP site, although far from perfect, is about 100x better.

Harold, voice of wisdom. Wta site is terrible. Are announcers getting into trouble with the wta info? If they use it to prep for matches they run a huge risk of getting everything backwards.

This is the first time I have ever gone to a major sports official website where the website interface is utterly incompetent. The ATP site is not amazing, but it is serviceable and seems to at least have some stat temps that update the site periodically.

The wta tour, which pays its CEO more than US $300K annually and bought out their last CEO for more than $1.5 million, could at least either attempt to get it right or just cut down on the information (also pathetic but in light of the scat quality understandable).

For a few top twenty wta players last week I had to check a bunch of other sites after the wta sites. It’s because the wta site didn’t get basic information correct.

Harold is right. They can play everyone with a lousy site and casual fans will show up and be unphased because that’s the point. Aim low win big.

Scoop, why are you so big on McEnroe playing one of the WTA players? I have NO interest in this debate about male vs female players. Of course the male player has a big advantage, even an old guy like JMac, who apparently can still play well. Plus, Serena is not consistent these days, and Gauff is just starting out.

If they are going to have an expo before the AO, there are many more interesting possibilities.

This could be one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on a Tennis board.
Topic was endorsement deals

Bernard Tomic to Costco, with a picture of Costco employee shirt