Trust Nick Kyrgios to enliven the fresh tennis season in every possible way!

Tennis loves characters on and off the court. And the return of Nick Kyrgios in Brisbane from December 29, in the lead up to the Australian Open, has generated enormous interest. The enigmatic Aussie has been away from the tennis courts for two years plus but has been involved in commentary assignments often. For those who were fortunate to watch Kyrgios compete against Novak Djokovic in the 2022 Wimbledon final, it was a big one progression. However, a sequence of injuries for Kyrgios, wrist plus ankle, had rendered him horse de combat. Kyrgios has promised to come back hard and has set social media on fire with his quirky comments.

Sample this, he has been baiting Jannik Sinner since the time the Italian flunked a dope Test at Indian Wells earlier in 2024. Kyrgios has almost labelled Sinner a cheat, shown no mercy. Even though the Italian grew from strength to strength this year, won two Majors, finished No.1 and also shone for Italy in the Davis Cup final, Kyrgios is not sparing him. He wants a showdown with Sinner at the Australian Open, though how the draw will play out is anybody’s guess.

Kyrgios will come in with a protected ranking plus be rusty. Never mind, all he wants is a return and produce plenty of laughter, even if it is at the expense of Sinner. First impression, Kyrgios hates doping and dope cheats, but he has shown sympathy for Iga Swiatek, whose one-month ban has now ended. She was able to get away with the ITIA, an independent testing agency. What is that drives Kyrgios to behave like this, fans know. He loves attention, likes to ride on the crowd support. At the same time, his comments are caustic, which defines his persona. And to almost beseechingly seek a contest against Sinner is a sign he wants to play for the crowds.

Everyone knows returning to tennis after a long break is hard. Someone like Naomi Osaka rushed back from her maternity break but has not been the same champion figure again. She still has terrific support but the way Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina have grown in strength makes it harder for Osaka in the distaff side. Men’s tennis will be no different, so Kyrgios will still grab headlines.

If he has been gunning for Sinner, another famous name from yesteryears, Jelana Dokic, also residing in Australia,  has said she will not accept this ‘dope cheat’ label for Sinner. At her peak, Dokic was a prodigy, just that she never made it as big as she could have with a crazy father driving her nuts. In her role as a commentator and influencer, Djokic has said she would be more interested in knowing how the supplements and other stuff gets dope contaminated for tennis players. It’s a hard world out there to deal with anti-doping. Perhaps, even drinking water from a sealed bottle can be dicey for tennis players and other elite athletes.

Be that as it may, tennis is not a boring sport. If there is a controversy being whipped up, Nick Kyrgios will go full tilt. In addition, for those who have seen him mesh well with Thanasi Kokkinakis, the duo wants to make a comeback at the AO in doubles in Melbourne. For those who wonder how the WADA is engaging with CAS on the Sinner case, there is no clarity as yet. All stories are like kite flying in nature, nothing authentic. The CAS has enough to deal with in terms of number of cases, though the Sinner saga is far from over.

Back to Sinner, he has handled critics very maturely. He has not lost his cool even after being baited. So, even as tennis is on a break and players are working on their off-season training, characters like Nick Kyrgios keep stoking the fire.