By Mark Keohane
CAPE TOWN - Nic Kyrgios is good for tennis and for sport in general.
His outspokenness would be even better if he won more tournaments but the 25-year-old is unlikely to ever rule the rankings because of his on-court performances.
It isn’t that Kyrgios isn’t gifted enough to become the best player in the world, it is just that his appetite for tennis is not single-minded enough to commit all his energy to becoming number one.
Kyrgios is ranked 47th after a career high 13th in 2016. His drop is because he hasn’t played for a year because of the Covid-19 crisis. Kyrgios has been vocal about staying put in Australia and doing his bit to fight the virus.
He hasn’t been shy to call out the world number one Novak Djokovic on social media and in mainstream media interviews for being a law unto himself during Covid.
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He described Djokovic’s decision to organise the Adria Tour exhibition at the height of the first wave of the pandemic ‘boneheaded’ and reiterated his view when Djokovic, Borna Coric, Grigor Dimitrov and Viktor Troicki tested positive during the exhibition.
Kyrgios also used his influence on social media to single out German Alexander Zverev, who was out partying when he should have been self-isolating.
“How selfish can you be?” asked Kyrgios before telling Zverev just how selfish.
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When former Grand Slam winner Boris Becker accused Kyrgios of being a ‘rat’ for exposing Zverev, Kyrgios didn’t hesitate in telling Becker that, despite his tennis-playing ability, he was a ‘doughnut’ and ‘not the sharpest tool in the shed’ in not understanding the seriousness of Zverev’s action.
Kyrgios’s controversial on-court antics, in which he has been fined several times, quit matches and acted like a juvenile, have allowed some to dismiss his social media voice as being similarly distasteful and disrespectful, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.
Kyrgios’s opinions aren’t tailored in how he expresses them and they certainly don’t lack substance in subject matter.
They also don’t excuse anyone, including Djokovic, who ironically has never taken a set off Kyrgios, let alone beaten him, in the two times they have met.
When Djokovic said he spoke on behalf of all the players in quarantine (in preparation for the Australian Open) and presented a list of demands to make their stay in Australia more comfortable, Kyrgios felt obliged to remind him that the global pandemic was bigger than the sport of tennis and those who play the sport.
“He (Djokovic) is one of our leaders of our sport. He is technically our LeBron James in the way he has been setting an example for all tennis players,” Kyrgios told CNN. “No one else was really holding him accountable. Everyone loses their way a little bit but he just needs to pull it back.”
The CNN interview was more articulate than Kyrgios’s initial social media reaction to Djokovic wanting an easing of the quarantine regulations. Then he called him a “tool”.
Djokovic’s response to Kyrgios was to say his demands were not demands and his communication had been misconstrued. Kyrgios felt the point had been made and that no player was above any other individual in quarantine in Australia.
All sporting codes need their big names to have big voices in terms of opinion and equally big voices that can have public debates with each other, especially on issues that require education and in moments that offer inspiration.
In the modern age of robotic prototypes and sanitised stereotypes the sporting world is a better place because players like Kyrgios are willing to be a voice, be it a dissenting one or that of reason.
Kyrgios, if he finds the necessary appetite, could have as big a voice during the Australian Open, given that he has beaten Djokovic twice and won three of his eight career matches against 20-time Grand Slam winner Rafa Nadal.
But it’s not on the court where I expect Kyrgios to make his biggest statements or be at his most influential.
Think back to a year ago when bush fires were out of control in Australia and Kyrgios pledged to donate 200 (Aus) dollars for every ace he served that summer, starting with the Australian Open’s Aces for Bushfire Relief initiative.
He got other players to join him and inspired Tennis Australia to commit 100 (Aus) dollars for every ace served at the ATP Cup that preceded the Australian Open.
Kyrgios got those in his profession to think beyond their profession and to use their influence positively. Kyrgios spoke loudly and passionately and he backed up this talk with action, with the Rally of Relief event at the Australia Open raising 4.8 million (Aus) dollars in one night.