"Stubborn, old, stuck in his ways" - Nick Kyrgios lashes out at Pat Cash after Aussie legend criticizes 'out of control' Australian Open crowd

Nick Kyrgios recently took shots at 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash for the latter's critique of the loud Melbourne crowd.

Cash, a former player-turned-commentator, believes that the local fans at the Australian Open have gotten "out of control" over the last ten years. He also asserted that they had "little respect" for players who hail from outside their country.

"I think the Australian crowds in the last 10 years have got a little out of control," Cash told ABC TV. "We should have more respect for the international players that come over here. We’ve got to also accept that if it goes too far, there’s a chance that these players will say, 'I’m not going to come to Australia anymore. I go there and I get abused, what’s the point of that?'"

Nick Kyrgios didn't take kindly to the criticism meted out to his fellow Aussies. The former Wimbledon champion asserted that fan engagement was crucial to the entertainment quotient in tennis. He also said that Cash was "stubborn, old, stuck in his ways" if he didn't understand its influence on the sport.

"We need the crowds to feel part of the sport," Nick Kyrgios was quoted as saying by Daily Mail. "We need entertainment. We need people having beers and the players loving it. We need human interaction. We're human, not robots. We need it to be like that."

"With everything I do on and off the court, entertainment value, putting eyes on this. It just makes everyone else more money in the sport. That's all it does. And if Pat Cash can't see that - stubborn, old, stuck in his ways," he added.

The 28-year-old then drew a correlation between raucous crowds and marketing, inferring that short videos of fans interacting with the matches go a long way in shaping its image:

"Absolutely stupid comment by another old head that has no idea how marketing or how things work in today's day and age. You need entertainment. This generation doesn't have a long attention span. That's why you see clips on Instagram rolling. They're 15-20 seconds long."

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Nick Kyrgios set to take on commentator duties at Australian Open 2024

Nick Kyrgios is out of the 2024 Australian Open due to injury

Nick Kyrgios, meanwhile, has been out of action since last June due to a wrist injury. The Aussie will not play at next week's Australian Open and is also yet to announce the date of his return to pro tennis.

However, he has no plans of sitting idle during his extended break. The Instagram handle of Eurosport recently announced that they would have Kyrgios joining their commentary panel.

Nick Kyrgios had previously taken on the role of a commentator for Tennis Channel at last year's Nitto ATP Finals. Considering the Aussie has spent a decade on the ATP Tour, he will probably have some interesting tidbits to share during his time in Eurosport's commentator booth.