Nick Kyrgios' open disdain for a legend of Boris Becker's stature might just be a step too far

Nick Kyrgios has beefed with a lot of people over the years, but more recently he’s been getting into it with a former player who certainly isn’t one to avoid beef for the sake of avoiding it. The former player in question is Boris Becker, who has had a fascinating life not devoid of controversy entirely.

His personal life has been the topic of the media for many years as he quite prominently went to jail not too long ago, though he’s a free man these days. What started this is an interview Kyrgios did where he talked about the difference between the modern games and the old game.

He kind of devalued older players, noting that today’s game is very different, which it is. Comparing eras, though, is never that black and white, which is why most people don’t do it. As somebody who will defend his achievements vehemently, Kyrgios does tend to frame the narrative a certain way when he talks.

Becker responded to that by noting that some of those old players are Grand Slam champions, something Kyrgios hasn’t done himself in singles, and it kind of escalated from there. The feud reignited a few days ago when Becker reacted to a meme making fun of Kyrgios' non-stop commentary on the Jannik Sinner doping case.

Kyrgios is famously the most anti-Sinner pro on the Tour, speaking often against the Italian as he deems his doping situation quite negatively. He’s not the only one with that sentiment, but nobody has been louder about it. Kyrgios then responded to Becker’s reaction to that meme with, "What’s up criminal."

This is a clear allusion to Becker’s time spent in jail because by law he is a convicted individual, though some might dispute whether he is truly a criminal because the word does imply certain things. There are levels to it for sure, and Kyrgios could have been one as well as he went to court due to domestic abuse but settled.

Some fans pointed out the blatant hypocrisy in Kyrgios' statement, but he was never going to shut up about that obvious dig by Becker. The Australian, after all, doesn’t mind beefing with some of the biggest names in the sport, such as the time when he famously called Novak Djokovic a tool during the global pandemic.

The beef with Boris Becker is a pretty bizarre one because it didn’t really start out over anything significant other than them expressing differing opinions. Though with Nick Kyrgios' nature it was never going to end simply because he’s just not known for backing down even if his opinion is a controversial one.

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The outspoken nature of Nick Kyrgios

Nick Kyrgios - 2025 Australian Open Previews - Source: Getty

Nick Kyrgios has always been rather outspoken about many topics. He famously expressed that he doesn’t like tennis as much as basketball, for example, which he deems to be his favourite sport. He’s been outspoken about other things as well, but the level in which that outspoken nature has peaked with Sinner has been rather fascinating.

Some have called it obsessive, but Kyrgios has defended his frequent criticisms of Sinner, believing that not many people are speaking about it, which he found very strange considering how big of a deal it should have been.

"I mean, I have to be outspoken about it because I don't think there's enough people that are speaking about it. I think people are trying to sweep it under the rug and saying that about the amount and all this. It's like nothing about that. And there's not fair treatment for every single player," Nick Kyrgios said in Brisbane (press conference via The Tennis Letter).

In fairness to Kyrgios, some of what he has said has been true to an extent, though the reason why he has been speaking so much about Sinner might not have been fully shared. He has had some beef with Sinner from before all of this broke.

This just gave him the perfect excuse to go on his anti-Sinner tirade. So with everything around Kyrgios it’s quite complex. For a very long time, his outspoken nature was deemed very good by many because not many players are willing to put themselves out there as he is.

On the other hand, many have been turned off by his very harsh criticism of Sinner. Some have reasoned it and understood, while others haven’t really been favorable to him.

In any case, it’s not something that will stop and he’s going to keep being himself. That thing is the only eternal truth when it comes to Kyrgios. He’s never tried to be anything but himself and, as always, some people have liked that while others haven’t.

He doesn’t care, and that makes him somewhat of a unique personality on the tennis Tour, beloved or not.