Australian Open shows the worst of this nation

In Australia, values now count for little and the tribe for everything. As Kyrgios boasts: “Me and Thanasi are role models to youth”, doesn’t this ugly Australian Open prove it?

If this really is an Australian Open – a truly Australian one – then God help us. This one shows Australia at its modern worst.

The boorish antics of Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis, cheered by classless fans and even sports commentators, is just the last straw.

We’d already had Tennis Australia ban fans at the Open from wearing T-shirts asking: “Where is Peng Shuai?, the Chinese doubles star who was disappeared by the Communist regime after accusing a former vice premier of sexual assault.

Australian human rights campaigner Drew Pavlou (L) is pictured wearing a ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’ T-shirt. Picture: Paul Crock

Yes, Tennis Australia did drop that ban after being mauled in the media for kowtowing to its Chinese sponsors and broadcasters, but Victoria Police have still not apologised for having at least one of its officers help enforce it.

Why was it the job of the police to silence criticism of China? The protesters broke no law.

But as this Australian Open confirms, our authorities now treat free speech as a nuisance, and if that isn’t bad enough, the despicably populist Morrison government also kicked world men’s champion Novak Djokovic out of the Australian Open and out of the country, even though he’d flown here legally with a visa and a valid medical exemption from being vaccinated, having just recovered from the coronavirus.

Novak Djokovic is not competing in the Australian Open after having his visa cancelled. Picture: Martin Keep

Djokovic posed no health risk, but Australian shrieking Karens insist the only problem with our insane virus bans is that they just don’t go far enough. They demanded Djokovic must go and the government caved, laughably claiming he might otherwise create “civil unrest”.

In that case, ban Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, too.

Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios celebrate match point in their Men’s doubles quarterfinals match. Picture: Getty Images

These two Australians have incited fans at the Open – many of them young male savages – to not just cheer the Australians but jeer their opponents.

Take the duo’s doubles victory against No.6 seeds Michael Venus and Tim Putz. Kyrgios repeatedly waved to the crowd to up the noise. He openly mocked Venus’s ball toss, abused chair umpire Eva Asderaki – “You’ve got no idea what you’re doing” – and smashed his racquet, with fans getting high on the loutishness.

As The Age reported: “The crowd was then encouraged to heckle the New Zealand and German players between points, despite Asderaki’s pleas.” Venus and Putz were booed as they tried to serve.

Putz later accused Kyrgios of going too far: “What he does between the first and second serve has nothing to do with entertainment. It’s just unsportsmanlike.”

Yet Kokkinakis appealed to the mob for more of the same: “The rowdier, the better from everyone, honestly. Sink piss and come here.”

Fans got out of control during Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios match. Picture: Getty Images

Other players have also complained about the tactics of the Australian duo and the vileness of the crowd.

The trainer of doubles top seeds Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić angrily confronted Kyrgios and Kokkinakis in the locker room, accusing them of disrespect, and Daniil Medvedev, who beat Kyrgios in the singles, also protested after being booed between serves by fans with “a low IQ”.

Kyrgios’s first-round opponent, British qualifier Liam Broady, said the sledging and booing he got was “absolutely awful”.

“It was a very, very difficult atmosphere to try and handle and he’s (Kyrgios) incredible at getting them behind him and he plays better for it.”

In fact, Kyrgios has made clear he’s using his fans not just to give himself energy but to harass his opponents: “On break points I’m trying to get the crowd up, get (my opponent) to feel the pressure a little bit more.”

Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis encouraging out of control crowds could be considered cheating. Picture: Michael Klein

Why doesn’t Tennis Australia crack down on what seems to me a tactic close to cheating?

Sure, Kyrgios has said it’s not good for his fans to boo players between serves, but then seemed to justify it: “It’s about time that people embraced some sort of different energy in this sport otherwise it will die out.”

Sadly, sports reporters here swallow that self-serving excuse. They see two Australians winning, morons in the stands screaming, and ratings soaring. Might means right, and so these “Special Ks” are praised – by reporter Catherine Murphy – as “young”, “ hip” and “high on life”.

I’d doubt these reporters would say the same if an American doubles pair incited an American mob at a US Open to boo Australian players.

I bet they’d call them not “hip” but ratbags with no respect for anyone but themselves, firing up their tribe against their enemies.

But in Australia values now count for little and the tribe for everything, so Kyrgios can boast: “There is no way around it, me and Thanasi are definitely role models to youth in Australia.”

Doesn’t this ugly Australian Open prove it?