Nick Kyrgios turns the tables & blames media for his 'bravado' approach to tennis

Nick Kyrgios has always been a very polarizing figure in tennis. It doesn’t matter if it's 2014 and he's just emerged as a tennis player or 2024 when he's, per his own words, entering the final stage of his career.

He hasn't really looked eye to eye with the media for much of his career, especially early on when he felt like he was negatively portrayed without much reason. He's spoken about it many times in the past, stating that the media played a huge part in his controversial image among tennis fans.

Bravado is often used to describe someone taking a bold and boasting approach, which certainly fits the description of how Kyrgios approaches tennis at times. In his mind, though, that approach is the fault of the media.

"I think the media is to blame for me playing with such bravado. I've just played the same way since I was a junior and how I am now. I've played the same way. I guess they kind of created, like, every time he steps out on the court, something could go. Where I've played years and years of tennis in my life, I've played normal matches," Nick Kyrgios said during his Brisbane International press conference via ASAP Sports.

His relationship with the media might not be as contentious as it once was, but he still has his problems with it. He's never really given up on the thought that the media frames things a certain way to paint a certain picture, and when it comes to him, it's mostly been bad.

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Nick Kyrgios' issues with tennis media's coverage of him

Nick Kyrgios' issues with the media started fairly early in his career because he felt that lots of what he did was taken out of context. That's how he describes it these days, though as with anything, different sides would have different opinions on matters.

"It's unfair, in a way, because a match can go on for hours like at the US Open in the recent past, I played a match that went on for four hours, and the media showed the last 30 seconds of me smashing a racquet. That's what they choose to put out globally. It's hard. It gets so crazy like people on the street think I'm just like the craziest guy ever and they'll just look at me and wait for me to do something insane. I'm literally just a normal guy. So yeah, the media has definitely painted a bit of a picture," Nick Kyrgios said in 2023 via Tennis World USA.

Media framing has been a thing forever and it's never going to go away with public persons like Kyrgios simply have to make the most out of it.