Aussie tennis legend Pat Cash says Nick Kyrgios ‘plays the victim’ better than anyone

An Aussie tennis legend has gone scorched Earth over Nick Kyrgios’ Wimbledon antics and says he plays the “victim” better than anyone.

Nick Kyrgios “plays the victim”. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Australian tennis legend Pat Cash has sunk the boots into Nick Kyrgios once again after he secured his first berth in a Grand Slam semi-final.

Cash took aim at Kyrgios only days ago when he accused him of “gamesmanship” and “cheating” as he said the Canberran has dragged tennis down to its “lowest level” with his antics at Wimbledon.

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Cash, who won Wimbledon in 1987, was speaking in the context of Kyrgios’ spiteful grudge match against Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday (AEST). The 27-year-old won in four sets but afterwards Tsitsipas called him a “bully” with an “evil side”, urging fellow players to band together and force Kyrgios to change his behaviour.

“It was absolute mayhem,” Cash, who is commentating at the grand slam, told BBC radio. “He’s brought tennis to the lowest level I can see as far as gamesmanship, cheating, manipulation, abuse, aggressive behaviour to umpires, to linesmen.

“He was lucky to even get through the first set, he should have been defaulted in the first set. Something’s got to be done about it, it’s just an absolute circus.

“Is it entertaining? Yeah, possibly. It’s gone to the absolute limit now.”

Kyrgios’ antics have divided fans. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP)

Kyrgios and partner Costeen Hatzi. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Cash doubled down on Kyrgios’ antics in an interview on the Today Show with Karl Stefanovic and said the at times volatile Kyrgios is a master at playing the “victim”.

“What I’ve said I think is pretty fair and reasonable,” Cash said.

“I’ve been stopped left, right, centre by people saying ‘thank God someone finally said something’.

“Nick gets away with an awful lot, he plays the victim pretty well. But he gets away with more than I’ve ever seen. I’ve played against McEnroe and Connors, I know what they can get away with. “This is different.”

The former Wimbledon champion said Kyrgios’ bad days had become an all too frequent case, despite him having immense talent under his belt.

“I think his behaviour was a bit out of order – I think if you asked him, he would probably say the same thing,” Cash said.

“We all have bad days, we all have grumpy days, wake up in a bad mood one day or whatever.

“Nick’s pretty good, but having regular ones of those. He’s an incredibly talented player. I think many of us just want to see him get on and play some tennis.”

As far as the antics go, Cash believes they can be used for good to get under the skin of an opponent. Kyrgios just needs to tone it down.

“Just let his talents do most of the talking. We wouldn’t like to see Nick Kyrgios be quiet by any means. That would ruin a lot of fun of it. But at least calm it down a little bit,” he said.

“I think the gamesmanship has gone too far. The sledging has gone too far. The confrontation. You know, it’s not part of tennis.”

As the interview wrapped up, Stefanovic asked Cash – tongue firmly in cheek – if he would step in and coach Kyrgios.

“No, absolutely no chance in hell of coaching him,” he replied.

“I’ve got patience, I haven’t got that much patience.”