Nick Kyrgios responded to disgruntled New Zealand doubles player Michael Venus in what was an at-times tense press conference after the Aussie star and Thanasi Kokkinakis won their way into the Australian Open doubles final.
Venus delivered a withering blast of Kyrgios after the latter knocked the former out of the Australian Open on Tuesday.
The divisive Aussie has come under fire from opponents and critics during the Open for his on-court antics, deliberately riling the crowd which has in turn distracted and been considered by some to be disrespectful to his challengers.
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“On the maturity side, you see why he’s never fulfilled his potential and probably never will,” Venus said.
“His maturity level, it’s probably being generous to about a 10-year-old, it’s at about that level.
“He’s an absolute knob.”
But whatever Venus and others think of Kyrgios, it’s the latter who will play an Australian Open final in two days’ time, alongside close mate Kokkinakis.
After the pair won their semi final today, Kyrgios was asked about the comments from Venus.
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“I mean, look, at the end of the day I think tennis is a sport, as of now, that’s never been talked about as much,” Kyrgios said.
“I think the Australian Open, for the sport, we need more attention, we need more viewers. My goal is to only bring new fans that may not be following tennis to watch tennis.
“If they flick on a match and they have Thanasi and I playing in an entertaining doubles match, they know nothing about tennis, if they watch that match just then, they probably would tune in next time. That’s what I’m about. That’s what I want to bring.
“I think that’s how the sport is going to survive.
“As to Michael Venus, I’m not going to destroy him in this media conference room right now.
“But (semi final opponents) [Horacio] Zeballos and [Marcel] Granollers are singles players. They’ve had great careers.
“I respect them a lot more than I respect Michael Venus.”
In true Kyrgios fashion, he showed little patience for the questions being asked by journalists throughout the press conference.
At one point, a reporter asked if the winning pair believe Rod Laver Arena will be sold out for their final against fellow Aussies Matt Ebden and Max Purcell.
They had also been asked which Australian team the crowd would be cheering for.
“These questions are so depressing,” Kyrgios said.
“We have four Aussies in the final. Can we stop dividing which crowd is going to go for who?
“It’s just amazing we got four Aussies in the final. Ash (Barty) doing her thing. Dylan’s (Alcott) last Australian Open. Can we up the energy a little bit?
“It’s f—ing awesome. Can we have some hype questions? Because I’d rather just walk out.”
Just as had happened on the court prior to the press conference, it was left to Kokkinakis to step in and cool the tension his doubles partner had created.
“Hopefully we can get as many people in the stadium as possible,” Kokkinakis said, before apologising for his friend’s manner.
“Sorry.”
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