Nick Kyrgios isn’t a tennis brat – he’s an Australian sport hero

It’s mid-January; or as it’s known at our house, the Festival of Nick Kyrgios.

Sure, the world’s sporting attention is squarely on Melbourne and the Australian Open, but at the very centre is Our Nick.

Nick Kyrgios acting every bit the showman against Liam Broady in his round one match.Credit: Eddie Jim

Showing my age here, but when I was growing up people used to say Keith Miller was the greatest Australian sportsperson. A football star, World War II fighter pilot and handsome allrounder in the test cricket team, he cut almost a mythical figure.

Prodigiously talented, his massive popularity was based on his refusal to take sport seriously (like, say, Don Bradman) because, well, it was just a game.

Today’s world of professional sports breeds hundreds of dour athletes, who are as grim-faced and humourless on the field or court as they are when they give their well-rehearsed, clinical answers at press conferences.

These superstars cannot inspire us because they make sport look like a chore, or worse, a business. Their unsmiling, aggressive demeanour is a result of taking themselves incredibly seriously – Exhibit A, Novak Djokovic.

Only one person has instinctively shattered the mould and is Miller’s heir – Nick Kyrgios – who knows that sport is only glorious because it is meaningless. On Tuesday night Kyrgios lit up John Cain Arena and beat Englishman Liam Broady, showing a full array of audacious shots.

Match won, Kyrgios celebrated by playfully sipping a beer from a fan in the crowd.

It’s the risk-taking, the ingenuity and the sheer fun of it all that the crowds love. And also, perhaps, the fact that no matter what he does, Kyrgios seems to earn the ire of people who think he is disrespecting the game. The opposite is true.

In fact, Kyrgios presents not a glimpse into a ghastly future of snarling tennis brats being urged on by a raucous crowd. He is a throwback to the golden age of Australian tennis of Rosewall, Hoad and Laver. His carefree spirit is a hallmark of Australian sportsmen before this austere professional age.

Kyrgios takes a moment with fans after his round one match.Credit: AP

And what would you prefer – Kyrgios’ unpretentious attitude that seems to regard glory-seeking and the relentless pursuit of victory as unimportant, or the self-regarding and fanatical determination of so many of his peers?

Additionally, Kyrgios has had no sexting or drug scandals like so many cricketers and footballers. Rather, he remains a humble kid from Canberra who has his own charity and was at the centre of fundraising efforts after the Black Summer bushfires.

Oh, and don’t forget, he’s playing while still recovering from COVID. What’s not to love?

So Kyrgios is no tennis brat. He is, in fact, the anti-brat.

His next match is on Thursday against world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev. Like the rest of Australia, I’ll be glued to the TV screen and wildly cheering on one of Australia’s greatest modern sports heroes.

Duncan Fine is a lawyer and regular columnist.