Nick Kyrgios faces backlash after cutting ‘second serve’ social media message
Nick Kyrgios has caused a stir at the US Open after a tweet responding to a post about Jannik Sinner’s girlfriend Anna Kalinskaya.
Kyrgios has been the most outspoken critic of the response from tennis chiefs to Sinner’s two failed drug tests earlier this year, as he has suggested the Italian got special treatment over the case.
Now he has posted a message on X in response to a post about Kalinskaya, who he is reported to have been in a relationship with back in 2020.
In response to post about Kalinskaya, Kyrgios offered a reply that simply said: ‘Second serve’.
While there was no context to the message, some social media users suggested it was a reference to his history with Kalinskaya.
Yet Kyrgios was quick to hit back at the message with this reply “Don’t you think it’s hilarious how quickly people get triggered with a couple words…. Too much power.”
The message provoked a strong backlash on X, with tennis journalist Ben Rothenburg suggesting US broadcaster ESPN could have removed Kyrgios from their team at the US Open following the message.
“Honestly a bit surprised to see ESPN didn’t yank Nick Kyrgios off air mid-#USOpen final, seeing his most recent disparaging tweet about a WTA player circulating,” wrote Rothenburg.
“Given his history of demeaning women, women’s tennis, and WTA players, it was already a dubious choice to have him.”
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Kyrgios, who reached the 2022 Wimbledon final, has been a star performer in the US Open commentary booth once again, proving to be a popular pundit for ESPN after he made a big impact in his role as a media pundit at the Australian Open in January.
After the decision to clear Sinner at the start a few days before the US Open, Kyrgios posted on X: “Ridiculous – whether it was accidental or planned. You get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance… you should be gone for 2 years. Your performance was enhanced. Massage cream…. Yeah nice”
Sinner, who was cleared of fault or negligence by an independent tribunal that accepted the banned substance had accidentally entered his system.
Sinner suggested he is happy to let bygones be bygones if he comes face to face with Kyrgios.
“I don’t want to respond on what he said. Everyone is free to say everything, so it’s OK,” said Sinner.
“If that is the case, let’s see. It’s going to be different, for sure, but I don’t know.
“I don’t know what to say. Maybe if I say something now, and then the reaction is going to be something else because you live in this moment, but I’m always quite relaxed. I’m someone who forgets quite fast something.
“As I said, everyone is quite free to say everything, so it is what it is.”
It remains to be seen if Sinner would still be happy to talk to Kyrgios after his latest message on X.