Nick Kyrgios in awkward twist as Jannik Sinner celebrates US Open triumph with girlfriend

Fresh from causing a social media storm with a two-word comment about Jannik Sinner's girlfriend Anna Kalinskaya, Nick Kyrgios had to watch on as they celebrated with a very public display of affection after the US Open final. World No.1 Sinner beat Taylor Fritz 6-3 6-4 7-5 for the second grand slam title of his career - and first at the US Open.

The 23-year-old Italian backed up his triumph from the Australian Open in January and continued America's 21-year wait for a male major winner. It makes Sinner the first male player since Guillermo Vilas in 1977 to win his first two grand slam trophies in the same season - something Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer never achieved.

Kyrgios was once again in commentary for ESPN and had to watch on awkwardly as Sinner and Kalinkskaya celebrated with a kiss in the stands after the final point. Kyrgios had copped backlash on Saturday when he made what many interpreted as a misogynistic comment about Kalinskaya on social media.

The Australian dated Kalinskaya for a brief period in 2020, and was reminded of the fact when someone posted an old photo of the pair. Kyrgios simply replied 'second serve', which the majority thought was a dig at the fact she's now dating Sinner.

Leading tennis reporters Ben Rothenberg and Jon Wertheim both criticised Kyrgios for the comment and questioned whether ESPN should sanction him. The journalists both made mention of Kyrgios' infamous sledge for Stan Wawrinka when he told the Swiss player during a match that "Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend".

Rothenberg wrote: "Honestly a bit surprised to see ESPN didn’t yank Nick Kyrgios off air mid-US Open 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."

Wertheim commented: "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."

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Nick Kyrgios sends message to Taylor Fritz but not Jannik Sinner

Tellingly, Kyrgios didn't congratulate Sinner after the US Open final but instead sent his condolences to Fritz for the loss. Kyrgios had previously been highly critical of the fact Sinner tested positive to a banned substance recently, but was allowed to keep playing while it was sorted out in the background.

Authorities accepted Sinner's explanation that he was unwittingly exposed to the steroid by his physio, who had sprayed it on his own finger and then gave Sinner a massage without gloves. On Sunday, tennis fans made note of the fact Kyrgios only sent a message to Fritz and failed to congratulate Sinner. Others were happy to point out the fact that Kyrgios had to watch on while Sinner celebrated his triumph with Kalinskaya.

Sinner's victory in New York extended his current winning streak to 11 matches, and improved his record in 2024 to 55-5 with a tour-high six titles. That includes a 35-2 mark on hard courts, the surface used at both the Australian Open and US Open.

"So many big wins for me this season, starting off with Australia and playing so well there, which gave me confidence for now," he said in his victory speech. "But the work never stops. I know that I still can improve as we saw also today a couple of things, but you have to be proud with what you have."

with AAP