Cameron Norrie: I think Nick Kyrgios is good for tennis in a way

Shahida Jacobs
May 25, 2019

Cameron Norrie believes it was a “smart” move from Nick Kyrgios to withdraw from the French Open, adding that the Australian’s antics is “pretty entertaining for fan”.

It has been another rollercoaster couple of weeks for Kyrgios as he was defaulted from the Italian Open after he kicked a water bottle and threw a chair during his clash against Casper Ruud.

Then at the start of this week he declared his love for the grass-court season before adding the “French Open sucks”.

And he capped it off by withdrawing from Roland Garros on Friday, citing illness.

British No 2 Norrie, who was due to face the Aussie in the first round, is certainly entertained by Kyrgios’ behaviour.

“He likes acting like that and he’s allowed to act like that if he wants to,” he is quoted as saying in The Guardian. “For me, I think it’s pretty entertaining for fans.

“I think it’s probably smart from him just to get ready for the grass.”

Ruud was quite outspoken after his Rome clash against Kyrgios, saying that a lot of players in the dressing room “wants him suspended for half the season“, but Norrie wasn’t impressed with the Norwegian’s comments.

“I don’t agree with that at all. I think that was pretty harsh of him to kind of celebrate how he did after getting a default when Nick could have easily turned up on the day and chopped him probably in straight sets. That was a bonus for him,” he said.

“I think [Kyrgios] is great. There’s endless things on Twitter about the way he’s acting and stuff. I’m not saying it’s correct but I like that he’s his own person and does whatever he wants. He’s not trying to follow someone else.”

He added: “I don’t know if I agree with the way he’s going about it. I don’t know… I think he does attract a lot of fans and he is good for tennis in a way.”

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