Nick Kyrgios cheekily hints at defection to Greece in image with Tsitsipas and Kokkinakis

Nick Kyrgios has sent the tennis world into a frenzy with an Instagram upload from a night out in Melbourne during the Aussie Open.

Nick Kyrgios has caused an almighty stir on social media with an Instagram post cheekily suggesting he might be defecting to play for Greece.

Nick Kyrgios has caused an almighty stir on social media with a social media post cheekily suggesting he might be defecting to play for Greece.

In an Instagram upload from Melbourne, the injured star was pictured at a restaurant alongside Greek world No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas, and his good mate and a fellow Aussie tennis star with Greek heritage Thanasi Kokkinakis.

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Kyrgios, who was born to a Greek father and Malaysian mother, captioned the image: “Things could be looking nice for team Greece soon.”

The image quickly went wild on social media with hundreds of comments, mostly of excitement with tennis fans daring to dream of the idea becoming reality.

Tsitsipas went along with the troublemaking, writing in the comments, “Davis Cup loading,” referencing the yearly tennis tournament where tennis stars represent their countries, while Kokkinakis simply wrote “trouble”.

Nick Kyrgios uploaded this image on Thursday night alongside Tsitsipas (far left), Kokkinakis (second from left) and a third unknown friend (far right).

Many other comments referenced Kyrgios’ infamous run-in with Tsitsipas at Wimbledon in 2022, a third-round match that sparked a war of words between the pair starting in their post-match press conferences and continuing during the Netflix documentary series Break Point.

In that program, Tsitsipas accused Kyrgios of bringing an “uneducated” approach to tennis in a fiery statement that he later walked back amid accusations of racism.

Therefore many fans were somewhat surprised to see the 25-year-old Greek star and the 28-year-old Aussie so chummy during this year’s Australian Open.

However Kyrgios’ suggestions of playing for a country other than Australia, if indeed he ever does return to the tennis court amid his ongoing rehabilitation from injury, should not come as a surprise to most onlookers.

Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas have traded barbs ever since their 2022 match at Wimbledon. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

The Canberran has long spoken about his perception that Australians have not accepted him as an athlete, and he recently rubbished any suggestions that he will compete for Australia at this year’s Paris Olympics.

In a column for Nine Newspapers in which Kyrgios also admitted that “part of me that knows my time in the sport may be over” – the tennis firebrand hit out at the treatment he received from the Australian Olympic Commission ahead of the 2016 Olympics.

At the time, then chef de mission Kitty Chiller said Kyrgios and then world No. 22 Bernard Tomic’s behaviour was being monitored.

Kyrgios said at the time: “Representing Australia at the Olympic Games has been a dream of mine since I was a kid … Unfortunately, while I have expressed every intention of trying to win a medal for my country in Rio, it’s very clear to me that the Australian Olympic Committee has other plans.”

He labelled the Australian Olympic Committee’s treatment of him as “unfair and unjust”, claiming the AOC had “chosen to publicly and privately disparage me”.

Nick Kyrgios has excelled with the microphone at this Australian Open. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

In his recent column, Kyrgios called the decision to ban him from those Olympics as “a disgrace”, and ruled out representing Australia in Paris.

“I wanted to play for my country (in 2016), I can’t say that I still have that desire,” Kyrgios wrote.

“And let’s be honest, I haven’t exactly felt like Australia has wanted me to represent it either. I’ve said before, I often feel more at home away from home.”

Meanwhile Kyrgios has impressed fans with his commentary for ESPN and Eurosport at this year’s Australian Open, while he’s also launched his Good Trouble podcast via Naomi Osaka’s production company Hana Kuma.

Kyrgios said his manager Stuart Duguid said: “This could be you from now on if you want it to be.”

“That’s a life people wish they had. Even the players on the circuit would love to be doing what I am doing now, but they have a different way of thinking,” Kyrgios wrote.

“They don’t have the global reach that I do. Otherwise, they would be doing it too. Their entire world revolves around playing tennis, and that’s never been me.

“Even over the past week being at Melbourne Park for the Australian Open, I’ve been happy. Of course, there’s a part of me watching on that would love nothing more than to be out there, especially after what I managed to do at Wimbledon 18 months ago in reaching the final against Novak Djokovic.”