Nick Kyrgios drags Ash Barty into ugly Australian tennis furore

Nick Kyrgios has hit out on social media over what he suggests is an act of disrespect from Australian tennis after being overlooked for the Newcombe Medal, despite enjoying his most successful year in the sport. Ash Barty beat Kyrgios to the top individual gong in Australian tennis after claiming a record fifth Newcombe Medal at the awards night on Monday evening.

Barty was named Australia's best tennis player of 2022, despite announcing her shock retirement from the sport in March, and walking away from the sport at the age of 25 after winning the Australian Open title. As well as the drought-breaking grand slam - the nation's first singles crown at Melbourne Park in 44 years - Barty also claimed the Adelaide International singles title and combined with Storm Hunter (nee Sanders) to sweep the doubles trophy, before ending her tennis career ranked World No.1.

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However, Krygios may feel aggrieved about missing out on winning the Newcombe Medal after an equally remarkable 2022, in which he combined with Thanasi Kokkinakis to win the Australian Open doubles title and finished runner-up to 21-time major winner Novak Djokovic in the final of Wimbledon. He won four titles playing in both singles and doubles, compared to Barty's three in 2022.

The 27-year-old seemingly took aim at being snubbed for the Newcombe Medal after sharing a graphic comparing his year with Barty's on an Instagram story. Alongside the graphic - which included his 61 match wins for 2022 compared to Barty's 14, he captioned it: "LOL. No respect at all. I don't give a f***," in the apparent swipe at Aussie tennis officials.

It is not the first time Kyrgios has spoken out against Australian tennis, previously suggesting it was an "easy decision" to snub the Davis Cup to play at a recent exhibition tournament in Saudi Arabia for a six-figure payday.

Kyrgios hasn't played Davis Cup in nearly four years and once again sat out as Australia marched to the final in Malaga. The Aussie star drew backlash from commentators and fans when he announced he was playing the Saudi exhibition, boasting of the six-figure payday he was receiving as a result.

The outspoken Aussie tennis star said it all boiled down to the negative attitude towards him from the Australian public. The 27-year-old said he wasn't sure if he'd ever play the World Cup of men's tennis again. "Maybe if Australia embraced me a little bit more, I would play it and bring home the trophy," he said. "But who knows?

"Adding another week in Europe in Malaga wasn't really what was on my wish list. If it was in Australia, maybe it would have been a different story. But who knows? It's not always easy for me to erase everything in Australia that's said negatively about me or my family, you don't need that. So it's interesting that they really want me to play, but are always criticising."

Nick Kyrgios says Aussie public has disrespected him

Kyrgios admitted that some of the public perception has changed since his extraordinary run to the Wimbledon final in July. However he said a lot of the treatment he receives from fans in Australia is 'disrespectful'.

"I don't forget the first seven years of my career ... They can't just pick and choose," he said. "Look, I've always been one of the best players in the world - I've always held up my fair share of the bargain towards Australia.

"I feel like this is the first year I've earned respect when it should have been given when I first came on tour. I've represented them, put them on the map, and having produced one of the most successful male years in the last decade for Australia, and am only just getting embraced (now), I don't think that's my fault."

Kyrgios can take some comfort from the fact he and Kokkinakis were named Fans' Favourite doubles team at the 2022 ATP Awards, to which he jokingly on Instagram: "Obviously lol." Kyrgios was nominated for the Newcombe medal as well as Ajla Tomljanovic, Alex de Minaur, Wimbledon doubles champions Matt Ebden and Max Purcell and Australia's Billie Jean King Cup standout Storm Hunter.

Barty has now added to her previous Newcombe Medal triumphs in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021, after Covid-19 wiped out the 2020 edition of Australian tennis's night of nights.

The Aussie champion's fifth Newcombe Medal caps off a brilliant career, which included three singles grand slams: the 2019 French Open, 2021 Wimbledon and her Melbourne Park triumph, as well as the 2018 US Open doubles title with CoCo Vandeweghe.

with AAP

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