Has Nick Kyrgios changed? His match with Nadal will tell

After leading an incredible bushfire fundraising effort, Australians are finally having a change of heart when it comes to tennis bad boy Nick Kyrgios. But will it last, asks Selina Steele.

Reformed rebel with a cause? Or tennis bad boy with surly snarl – and very public bad manners?

Oh Nick Kyrgios, please may it be the former!

Our tragic summer of devastation has seen Kyrgios transform his tarnished public image with an Australian bushfire campaign that the 24-year-old clearly feels passionate about.

But Monday night’s match – where he will face Rafael Nadal in the last 16 of this year’s Australian Open – could very well unravel the goodwill.

Previously, the pair’s on-court clashes have always been tight but over time, it’s become personal.

During last year’s Mexican Open, Kyrgios was in excellent form. He defeated Nadal after managing to come back from a set down to save three match points.

But Kyrgios was vocal throughout, complaining to the umpire that Nadal’s signature lead-up to his serve was taking too long.

Naturally, this ticked Nadal off. So much so that he couldn’t help himself at the post match press conference, telling reporters, “He’s [Kyrgios] a player who has enormous talent, could be winning grand slams or fighting for the No. 1 ranking.”

Following his efforts to raise funds for bushfire victims, the Australian public is finally getting behind Nick Kyrgios. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty

Nadal continued, “He lacks respect for the crowd, his opponent and towards himself … I don’t think he’s a bad guy, but he lacks a little respect for the public and the rival”.

Kyrgios hit back, saying Nadal “doesn’t know the journey I’ve been through … He doesn’t know anything about me. So I’m not going to listen at all. That’s the way I play.”

And that’s just the point. Kyrgios doesn’t care.

Or does he?

His passion – and clear compassion – for bushfire victims saw Australian crowds warm to him this summer. It even prompted one reporter to ask what it felt like to finally have the crowd behind him. “It’s a good feeling,” Kyrgios replied.

“But regardless whether you like me or you don’t like me, the stadium is usually full anyway.”

Later, he said in another interview: “I don’t really care about the support, to be honest. I do this because I genuinely care [about the effects of the fires]. What you guys choose to do after that is your choice.”

If only he realised that what he chooses to do is his choice as well, and that it doesn’t have to be this way.

Earlier this month, Kyrgios was at the other end of the court when a hot-tempered Stefanos Tsitsipas had a meltdown in the ATP Cup.

Stefanos Tsitsipas was told off after hitting his father with his racquet. Picture: AAP/Lukas Coch

After dropping the first set, world No. 6 Tsitsipas slammed his racquet into the bench, accidentally clipping his father on the forearm. His unimpressed dad walked away briefly before Tsitsipas’s mother emerged from the crowd to stand behind the bench and give her son a dressing down for his behaviour.

The footage went viral, but maybe there’s some merit in family, friends, and the greater public holding all of us – including hot-tempered players like Kyrgios and Tsitsipas – to account.

In The Herald Sun’s ‘Most hated athletes of the decade’ poll, Kyrgios placed at No 2 – smack bang in between convicted murderers Oscar Pistorius and Aaron Hernandez.

As much as I am not a fan of the word hate, surely that one had to hurt. Yes the man has demons and is facing the suspended sentence of a 16-week ban and a $36,733 fine if he misbehaves again before the end of March, but he has also has enormous talent.

Australia’s greatest tennis player Rod laver called it last year when he said of Kyrgios: ”I’m not sure he’s learned anything from any of the things that have gone on.”

Let’s hope his empathy around the bushfires is the birth of Kyrgios’s transformation – a path that other former bad boys like Andre Agassi successfully navigated.

There’s a lot of people in Kyrgios’s corner, willing and cheering him on for the next chapter, myself included.

Selina Steele is a columnist for News Corp.

Originally published as Has Nick Kyrgios changed? His match with Nadal will tell