"Worst take I’ve ever seen" - Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis defend Alex de Minaur after Jannik Sinner decimation at Australian Open

Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis stood up for their compatriot Alex de Minaur, who has been facing negativity from the tennis fraternity for his disastrous outing against Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open quarterfinal. The matchup has never been kind to de Minaur in the past, however, things went from bad to worse for the Aussie as Sinner came out guns blazing to win 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 in just an hour and 48 minutes.

Following the match, the tennis fraternity online slammed the 25-year-old for his performance. One fan, on X (formerly Twitter), claimed that the Aussie wouldn't be top 100 in any other era of tennis.

"The fact De Minaur is 8th seed, just shows how poor the quality of tennis is these days. Bloke wouldn’t be top 100 any other era. Genuinely average player," the fan tweeted.

However, Nick Kyrgios stepped in to defend Alex de Minaur.

"This could be the worst take I’ve ever seen."

Thanasi Kokkinakis also chimed to second Kyrgios, writing:

"There’s been some bad ones but this is right up there."

Interestingly, Alex de Minaur also lashed out the Novak Djokovic superfan Pavvy G on X. The latter opined that the Aussie had no self-belief heading into his match against the top seed and called his performance 'awful'.

The Aussie responded to the criticism by quipping how it was a shame that the Djokovic superfan couldn't become a professional tennis player as he would've definitely known how to beat Jannik Sinner.

Nick Kyrgios also defended his friend Novak Djokovic, who called out Channel 9 broadcaster Tony Jones for mocking him and his Serbia fans.

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"Most unathletic people calling out the best athletes" - Nick Kyrgios defends Novak Djokovic

2025 Australian Open - Day 5 - Source: Getty

Channel 9 broadcaster Tony Jones recently mocked Novak Djokovic and his Serbian fans calling him overrated and a has been. However, after his fourth-round win against Jiri Lehecka, the Serb decided not to give his on-court interview and explained during the press conference that he wouldn't be giving Channel 9 any interviews until Jones apologized for his actions.

Nick Kyrgios took to X on January 20 to call out Jones as he felt that the broadcaster severely lacked the expertise to opine on the 24-time Grand Slam champion.

"Why is it always the most unathletic people calling out the best athletes in the world."

During an interview with 9 News Australia, Tony Jones revealed that he issued an apology to Djokovic and his team and admitted that he crossed a line he shouldn't have.