Australian Open 2023: Nick Kyrgios’ explosive reaction to withdrawal sceptics

Former World No.1 Boris Becker has called out Nick Kyrgios’ Australian Open withdrawal, saying he looked fit in his exhibition match against Novak Djokovic.

Nick Kyrgios hit back at injury sceptics. Picture: James D. Morgan/Getty

Nick Kyrgios shook his head as he waited for the lift.

“Why the f*** wouldn’t I want to play? People don’t understand how physical this game is,” he said over and over.

Kyrgios had just exited Monday’s press conference where the world’s most watchable tennis player told the world he wouldn’t be playing the Australian Open.

On Tuesday the brash boy from Canberra continued to polarise opinions.

Australian great Todd Woodbridge said Kyrgios’ six-figure summer cash grab in Saudi Arabia may have sabotaged his Melbourne Park hopes.

Woodbridge declared Kyrgios’ preparation for his home slam – or lack thereof – had set him up for failure and was poles apart from the battle-hardened edge he took into Wimbledon last year.

“Given what we now know about the issues that are going on with the knee, it would have been tough to get through, on hard court, six or seven matches,” Woodbridge said.

“Maybe it’s even tough to get through two. You have to look at the preparation before – was that exactly right for what he needed?

Nick Kyrgios hit back at injury sceptics. Picture: James D. Morgan/Getty

“You can never be on top of every injury. I would hope he has a look at what he did at Wimbledon last year when his preparation was great.

“The lead-up from a physical point-of-view, to then getting into the lead-in tournaments, to playing enough matches to be able to walk into Wimbledon knowing that everything was in that positive frame that he spoke about, that his ball striking was good, that his health was good.

“It gave him a chance to get in a final. Was that the preparation that happened before this summer?

“That’s the question, and if you were looking back at his schedule you would say that it was difficult to see that prep when he was flying around the world playing exhibition events.”

Perhaps Woodbridge has a point. On Friday evening Kyrgios sipped on a Corona after playing table tennis with Jordan Thompson on the QT rooftop in the city.

It was shortly before the hit-and-giggle exhibition match against Novak Djokovic on a sold-out Rod Laver Arena … but you have to wonder, would AFL champion Joel Selwood have sunk a beer while injured on the eve of finals?

Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt and star Alex de Minaur both said they tried in vain to lure Kyrgios to Malaga for last year’s final.

Boris Becker questioned the seriousness of Nick Kyrgios’s injury. Picture: Mark Stewart

But Kyrgios was unapologetic about his decision to line his pockets in the Middle East instead of lighting up Australia’s Davis Cup charge.

“At this point in my career I will always do what is best for me,” he said from Saudi Arabia in November.

“I can travel around the world and play at exhibitions for six figures at this time of year. I feel like I put myself in this position so it’s easy for me.

“I’d rather take my time with my family and my girlfriend and enjoy experiences around the world and make so much more money than play a week in a place where I can’t be with my girlfriend and doesn’t pay that well.”

Kyrgios is booked for knee surgery on Monday and it’s understood Channel 9 has made inquiries about getting him on the broadcast while he is in Melbourne.

Former world No.1 Boris Becker wasn’t buying the injury claims.

Nick Kyrgios’ gruesome social post. Picture: 9News

“It didn’t look that way on Friday night when he played two sets against Djokovic,” the German said.

“He talked about injuries beforehand – but to the ankle and not to the knee.

“But what Kyrgios says and what he does are often two different things. Nevertheless, it is of course very bitter to have to pull out of your home Grand Slam before the first round due to an injury.

“He wasn’t one of my favourites because we’ve never seen him go close to winning a Grand Slam. Yes, he went through at Wimbledon but he didn’t have to play the semis.”

But Kyrgios appeared legitimately deflated on Monday — perhaps not as much as Channel 9 bosses, though — and then there is the family factor.

Kyrgios’ parents and their two dogs drove seven hours from Canberra to Melbourne on Sunday for the Australian Open. Clearly, they thought Nick would be playing.

“It is a massive gut punch,” Aussie veteran John Millman said of his withdrawal.

“Not just for the tournament, more than the tournament it is a sucker punch for himself because after the 2022 he had, he had genuinely established himself as one of the leading chances at this Australian Open.

“We all know that when he is on, the game is in his hands it is on his racquet and I was excited to see how far he could go at this Australian Open so it is a real shame.”

Englishman Tim Henman appeared to be more in the Becker camp.

“It’s been difficult to gauge what’s been going on in his mind but also his body,” Henman said.

Nick Kyrgios cracks a beer three days before the start of the Australian Open. Picture: Mark Stewart

“He did come here having pulled out of the United Cup, but he was practising so I was hopeful.

“I want to see him play, I want to see the best players playing against each other, with his variation and his enormous talent.

“It’s really sad but the most important thing is he has to be back and 100 per cent healthy because we see the physicality and impact if players aren’t 100 per cent fit to compete.

“Can he be a favourite at one of the slams? Yes, at Wimbledon because his game is suited to grass, but when you look at the other three slams, the physicality of those three slams, it’s where I become concerned.

“Kyrgios likes to keep the points short but over a best of five matches, that’s where I become concerned.”

Swede Mats Wilander compared Kyrgios to a computer genius.

“His mind is that of a complete computer and genius on a tennis court,” Wilander said.

“If he trained harder, maybe he would win more but we can’t take away that he is incredibly smart.”

Originally published as Australian Open 2023: Nick Kyrgios’ explosive reaction to withdrawal sceptics