EXCLUSIVE: Nick Kyrgios is good for tennis, says top TV analyst after latest outburst

ATP Tour

Michael Graham
August 15, 2019

Nick Kyrgios is back in hot water once again after his latest spat with ATP umpire Fergus Murphy, yet Amazon Sport tennis analyst Mark Petchey has insisted the Australian maverick is good for the game.

Kyrgios drew laughter from television commentators as he left the court with two rackets and returned moments later with both smashed to pieces, in what was a clear attempt to vent his anger away from the umpire in a bid to avoid punishment.

However, television cameras capture the Kyrgios tantrum before he returned to the court and he was duly punished by Murphy when he returned to his chair.

“Worst f**king ref ever,” he shouted at Murphy. “The worst ref in the game. The worst. Hands down. Every single time I play, he’s doing some stupid s**t. Every time. Every time. Every time. Fool. Fool.”

It was the latest example of petulance from Kyrgios and while many in tennis are tired of his antics, there is no doubt that he remains one of the most fascinating and talked about players in the game.

Petchey believes tennis needs to find a way to embrace a player who has always made for compelled viewing, as he offered up this analysis to Tennis365 in an exclusive interview.

“You just have to enjoy Nick and everything he brings to the game and I think he is awesome for tennis,” Petchey told us. “Let him be the person he is rather than trying to change him into someone he never wants to be.

RELATED: WATCH: “You’re a f**king tool, bro” – Nick Kyrgios’ furious Rafael Nadal-linked tirade at umpire

Amazon Prime team

“If he was forced to change his ways and morph into someone he doesn’t want to be, he would never be happy and you just have to look at the courts wherever he plays in the world. They are packed every time, so people who say he is not good for tennis are completely missing the point.

“There is going to be a void when some of these guys retire from our game and we need people like Kyrgios to compete in a highly competitive field where lots of sport are battling for space on TV and on social media.

“Someone like Nick is fantastic for our game on a number of levels and I don’t understand the theory that he is bad for tennis. He is not teaching bad behaviour at the end of the day and you have a choice in life whether you want to copy Nick’s behaviour. If you don’t want to do that, you can still sit back and enjoy what he brings to the game.”

Whatever the critics may say about Kyrgios after his latest outburst, he will be the one player all the top seeds will want to avoid when the US Open gets underway like on Amazon Prime Video on August 26th.

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Nick Kyrgios