Nick Kyrgios has confessed he’d never really felt the love from former Aussie tennis greats, with the Wimbledon finalist preparing for his start at the US Open.
The longtime outlaw of the courts has become a changed man this season, taking his sport more seriously and reaping the rewards with his All England Club runner-spot last month.
But relations between the outspoken 27-year-old and the greats including Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt and others in the more distant past have always been frigid at the best of times, with Kyrgios happy to make his own way in the game.
“As for the Australian tennis greats, they haven’t always been the nicest to me personally,” the ATP No. 26 said in the run-up to Monday’s start of the major in New York.
“They have not always supported me. They have not supported me in those two weeks of Wimbledon.”
He added: “It’s hard to read the things they say about me. It’s weird that they have some sort of sick obsession with ripping me apart for some reason.
“I don’t know if they don’t like me or they’re scared. I don’t know what it is, but it sucks.”
Main photo:-Nick Kyrgios was runner up to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon – by Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd
