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Is Nick Kyrgios the “most disappointing Australian athlete ever”?
Andrew Slevison • January 14th, 2025 11:51 am
Nick Kyrgios has been labelled as the “most disappointing Australian athlete ever”.
It comes in the wake of his first-round loss to Jacob Fearnley at the Australian Open on Monday night, crashing out in his Grand Slam return in straight sets.
Kyrgios, who appeared hampered by an abdominal strain, said post-match that: “Realistically I can’t see myself playing singles again here”, referring to his singles career at Melbourne Park.
The 29-year-old reached his peak in 2022, winning the Australian Open doubles, making the Wimbledon final and the US Open quarter finals. However, he has largely failed to live up to his potential outside of that year.
SEN’s Kane Cornes says Kyrgios has been unable to match his huge potential in what he believes has been a disappointing career.
“I just feel like we talk about this guy too much,” Cornes said on SEN Breakfast.
“I understand why, but he has absolutely dominated the headlines in the last two to three weeks in the lead-up to the Australian Open.
“We’re not going to see and hear the last of him. I feel like his role in the game will be significant whether he’s playing or not because he is box office.
“Despite him being our most disappointing Australian athlete ever, he will still have a role to play because people are interested in him.
“I would (at least) think he is top three (most disappointing Australian athletes).”
Co-host Sam Edmund sees it from the other side, suggesting that Kyrgios has achieved what many people have been unable to.
“I feel like I’m in the minority here. I find it hard to be outraged by someone who has gone further than 99 per cent of other people who pick up a racket,” said Edmund.
“It takes everything. Just because you’ve got the talent doesn’t guarantee you anything and this is Exhibit A for this because it takes everything.
“It shouldn’t be a shock. Some have the application and not the talent, some have the talent and not the application. There’s everything else you need like luck, injuries, fitness, life intervenes.
“So you need everything. He doesn’t have absolutely everything but only a preciously small percentage do.”
However, Cornes simply cannot be drawn into any positives regarding Kyrgios.
He added: “But you could say that about any athlete? So can we not criticise any athlete, to use your measure?
“Every athlete needs some of that and they get to a level that most people don’t but that doesn’t mean they’re immune to criticism.
“This is a guy who sits there and criticises everyone else, he sits on his high horse and criticises everyone, be that ball kids, be that line judges, be that opponents. At least others have the results to back that up.
“He’s a 29-year-old child. The way he carries himself, the ambassador that he’s been, you put all that into the recipe and the mix, I think no one has disappointed more, no one has been spoken about more with less results than this guy over a long period of time.
“Yet still here we are. I get it, and it’s a credit to him that people are interested in him that we are still talking about him after he gave up again seven games into a first-round Grand Slam match.”
SEN tennis expert Brett Phillips spoke of his Kyrgios experience over the years, saying he has not been quite as enamoured as others.
“We had to call it last night and I’ve just been there and done it so many times that I almost wanted to switch matches,” he said.
“The writing was on the wall with the muttering going on. I’ve been covering Nick for a long time. I’m not here to character-assassinate him but we have to call it as we see it and judge what’s in front of us.
“I just haven’t enjoyed the Nick Kyrgios experience, it’s as simple as that.
“All the other Aussies who played yesterday, they were going about their business and they entertain in a different way.
“People are going to mount the argument to me that he is great for tennis, I’ll argue back, because we’ve just been disappointed more often than we’ve been happy about the Nick Kyrgios experience.
“I understand the fascination around him and the X-factor, but for the tennis people who follow the sport all year round, I don’t think it’s been an overly pleasurable experience to be honest.”
Kyrgios remains alive in the 2025 Australian Open from a doubles perspective, again teaming up with Thanasi Kokkinakis having won the championship together at Melbourne Park in 2022.
They meet fellow Aussie duo Aleksandar Vukic and James Duckworth in the first round on Wednesday.
