Grand Slam legend sends a message to Nick Kyrgios after latest Jannik Sinner outburst
Australian tennis legend Mark Woodforde has urged Nick Kyrgios to ‘let his racket’ do the talking after his latest outspoken comments directed at world No 1 Jannik Sinner.
During a press conference in Brisbane ahead of his return to the ATP Tour, Kyrgios described Sinner and Iga Swiatek’s positive doping tests as “disgusting” for tennis, as he stepped up his attack on tennis chiefs for failing to punish star names after they failed drug tests.
Kyrgios has been especially critical of the treatment afforded to Sinner after he failed drug tests last March and escaped a ban and he renewed his attack in a press conference that created plenty of headlines.
“I have to be outspoken about it because I don’t think there’s enough people that are speaking about it. I think people are trying to sweep it under the rug,” said Kyrgios.
“I just think that it’s been handled horrifically in our sport. Two world No 1’s both getting done for doping is disgusting for our sport. It’s a horrible look.
“The tennis integrity right now – and everyone knows it, but no one wants to speak about it – it’s awful. It’s actually awful. And it’s not OK.”
Now 17-time Grand Slam doubles champion Woodforde has given his verdict on Kyrgios’ hopes of mounting a successful comeback in 2025, as he suggested faces a big challenge to get back to the top of the game after missing most of the last two years due to a wrist problem.
“I hope that he can get back and let his racket do the talking on court instead of coming up with these big comments,” began Woodforde, who is an ambassador for the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open 2025.
“I think he has divided some of the players with the comments he has made about Sinner and it has put a big target on his back.
“It’s pretty brave to come up with these statements, but we don’t know how he is going to do as he has been away from tennis for so long.
“We saw him at some of the exhibitions in the latter part of this year, but that doesn’t give you any insight into how he’s going to play in competitive matches.
“The pressure of playing home in Brisbane, playing for ranking points, that’s different to exhibitions.
“This is probably a soft launch in his comeback playing in Australia, but there will be a lot of expectations around him.
“He will need to put some results together quickly and that won’t be easy because there will be a lot of player on the tour licking their lips at the opportunity to play against him and knock him back a step or two
“Hopefully he is going to be ready for the Australian Open and there will be a lot of attention around Kygrios, especially when Jannik Sinner turns up.”
Kyrgios has teamed up with 24-time Grand Slam-winning legend Novak Djokovic in an eye-catching doubles pairing at this week’s ATP Tour event in Brisbane and Woodforde believes the partnership is a huge boost for the game.
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“Doubles needs a bit of rescuing in my opinion and it’s good to see Djokovic and Kyrgios teaming up this week,” he added.
“I saw a clip of Kygrios talking to reporters at the airport saying Djokovic was lucky to be playing with him and that was a typical Nick comment. He loves to make these big statements.
“It’s good for the doubles game that they are playing together and they are going to be a tough team to take on.
“Nick is a good doubles player and I said to him and Thanasi Kokkinakis that they could be one of the best teams in the world if they played together consistently and I’ve always felt that doubles can be helpful to singles players for a number of reasons.
“I am at the ATP Tour event in Hong Kong and we have 11 of the singles players also competing in the doubles draw and it would be great if we can see more of that.
“I advocate singles players to get out there and play doubles as it can allow them to add elements to their game.”
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