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Nick Kyrgios drew flak from fans for favoring a potential breakaway tour backed by Saudi Arabia over the ATP.
Suadi Arabia has been a keen investor in sports including football, boxing, Formula 1, and golf. LIV Golf, which is financed by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has attracted some of the very top golfers from the PGA Tour with the help of its apparent financial might.
Rumors of Saudi Arabian investors looking to mirror the LIV Golf model for a potential tennis tour have been doing the rounds. In an interview with The Athletic, the Aussie spoke in favor of a Saudi Arabia-funded tour that was less demanding on players' time and physical fitness.
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“I would have been the first one to jump off. I would have gone. I would have just let the ATP ship sink," said Kyrgios via The Athletic.
Fans did not take kindly to Kyrgios brushing off the ATP. One of them believed Kyrgios was trying to make an extra dollar by making such comments instead of putting in the work.
"Nick is just chasing a bag at this point. he doesn’t want to work to get to the top and would prefer to have it handed to him," wrote a tennis fan on X (formerly Twitter).
Another fan posted that Nick Kyrgios' comments led him to be "unpleasant":
"Such warm comments and then he wonders why ppl dislike him.. He's become such an unpleasant person."
Here are a few more reactions:
Nick Kyrgios praises Darren Cahill after Coach of the Year Award win
Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi won the 2023 ATP Coach of the Year award, as announced on the association's website on Wednesday, December 13.
The duo were recognized for their work with Jannik Sinner. Under their guidance, he won four titles this season — the Montpellier Open, the Canadian Open, the Beijing Open, and the Vienna Open.
Sinner reached his maiden semifinal in a Major at Wimbledon where he fell to Novak Djokovic. The 22-year-old ended his season at No. 4 in the world rankings with an impressive 64-15 win-loss record. It was a marked improvement on his 47-16 record last season, where he won just one title.
On a congratulatory note, Nick Kyrgios praised Darren Cahill for his work with Sinner, particularly on the Italian's serve.
"Cahill is an incredible coach. What he has done with sinner is amazing. Serve especially," Kyrgios posted on x (formerly Twitter).
Meanwhile, Sinner was nominated for two ATP awards: 'Most Improved Player of the Year' and the 'Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award'. He won the former while Casper Ruud took home the other award.
