Nick Kyrgios is not out of the hot water, it seems. After angering the tennis community with a misplaced and rather “misogynistic” tweet—as alleged by industry insiders—about his ex-girlfriend and tennis star Anna Kalinskaya, fans have now resorted to reminding the Aussie player of a hard truth after the Russian player’s recent success. But before we get to that…
For the unversed: The controversy first arose in September this year after an X user tweeted a picture of Kyrgios and Kalinskaya (they dated for a few months in 2020) to which the 29-year-old replied with two words: “Second serve”. While Nick didn’t explain what the phrase meant, he deleted the tweet later, prompting many to see it as a vulgar comment against Kalinskaya, who’s currently dating World No. 1, Jannik Sinner. “Nick Kyrgios once made a misogynistic, wildly inappropriate comment about a WTA player, drew the anger of her ATP player boyfriend, his coach, and much of the locker room…but didn’t face real consequence, dismissed, as it was, as youthful indiscretion. That was 2015. He’s 29 now,” tweeted Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim.
Others even called the player a “teenage bully”, demanding his sacking from the ESPN commentary box. Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg wrote on X, “Honestly a bit surprised to see ESPN didn’t yank Nick Kyrgios off air mid-#USOpen final, seeing his most recent disparaging tweet about a WTA player circulating. Given his history of demeaning women, women’s tennis, and WTA players, it was already a dubious choice to have him.” However, Kyrgios himself didn’t see no wrong in his statement. “Right… so I’m the one that’s the bad guy for saying something about it? I never brought it up lol. Don’t take offence if people are gonna bring it up. Simple,” he fired back on X, in reply to a different tweet.
But fans certainly didn’t take too lightly to this alleged misdemeanor, and they’ve brought it up once again, as Anna Kalinskaya recently touched the highest high of her career. Earlier today, she achieved her career-best ranking of 12 on the WTA Tour. She is having one of the best years of her career, putting on consistent performances tournament after tournament. The 25-year-old started 2024 with a maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open, the backed it with another maiden tour-level final at the Dubai Tennis Championships. She also finished as runner up at the WTA 500 Berlin Open, and recently had a third-round finish at the US Open.
Although she has yet to win a title, consistency has helped her be on the brink of breaking into the top 10 of the WTA rankings. On the other hand, Kyrgios could reach only the 13th spot on the ATP Tour even at the peak of his career. Although he won several titles, the Aussie technically still fell behind Kalinskaya’s best rank of No. 12. Generally, such a comparison wouldn’t have been made, but in the light of the recent controversy, fans couldn’t help but take shots…
Nick Kyrgios gets bashed by the fans after Anna Kalinskaya achieves better rank than him
Kyrgios’ ‘second serve’ controversial remark is still doing the damage. When one fan pointed out that Kalinskaya had achieved a better ranking than Kyrgios, an X user took a dig at the Aussie, saying, “Who is the second serve now Nick?”
While Kalinskaya is having a good 2024 season, her boyfriend, Sinner, is having an even better year. He has already won the Australian Open and the US Open, along with many other big titles like Shanghai Masters and the Miami Open. As a result, one of the fans felt that Sinner’s effect was rubbing on Kalinskaya, with the comment reading, “Surround yourself with a winner like Jack Sinner, good things will happen…lol.”
Tit for tat is what Kyrgios got according to a section of fans. His offensive comment had no bearing on Kalinskaya, who has performed consistently despite controversy surrounding due to Kyrgios’ comments. Thus, one fan felt that ‘karma’ was hitting Kyrgios hard, as he couldn’t take Kalinskaya’s success. Similarly, another fan pointed out how Kyrgios couldn’t stand his ex-girlfriend outperforming him. The fan revealed that they ‘loved to watch girls outperforming their ex.’
While she has achieved her best ranking now, Kalinskaya would look to convert her consistent performances into a title. She will be seen in action at the Ningbo Open, where she is seeded seventh. Kalinskaya opens her campaign against Anastasia Potapova tomorrow. Can she clinch her maiden title in Ningbo? Let us know your views in the comments below.