8-Week Ban? Nick Kyrgios Got Off Easy

by Sean Randall | October 18th, 2016, 12:42 pm
  • 16 Comments

So Nick Kyrgios tanked ANOTHER match last week. And the ATP hit him with a $16.5K fine thereafter then a bigger one yesterday, banning the hot-headed Australian from 8 weeks of tournament play unless he sought help.

Kyrgios responded saying he would get better and Tennis Australia added that he would get help.

If Kyrgios does get help he’ll be back in business to start 2017. So the net result? He loses about $40K and misses two events he may not have been playing anyway in Basel and Paris.


The problem I have is the ATP should have done more. Kyrgios is just 21 and already he’s racked up numerous fines and multiple suspensions. He’s even been on probation.

So as a repeat offender, he should have been hit harder and I think banned from the tour for five months (till Indian Wells), four with good behavior.

But the ATP didn’t want to lose their mega-brat, mega-star for the Australian swing so they lightened the sentence.

Like him or not, Kyrgios sells tickets, he makes news and people watch him. Heck, in the middle of the football season here in the U.S., Murray winning Shanghai never got a mention while Kyrgios’s tanking made the highlights and the blogs.

That said, it’s good that the ATP is pushing Kyrgios to get help, because he needs it. His performance last week was inexcusable and an ugly mark on him and the sport.

And all of this is compounded by the fact that Kyrgios is a darn good player. Someone who I think will win Slams if he can get his act together. That’s why I think the punishment should have been stronger. And to really send a message that enough is enough, he should have been banned through January and been barred from competing at the Australian Open. Then you hit him.

Of course, 8 weeks or 5 months, it might not matter. Kyrgios will be Kyrgios and there may be no way for anyone to change his attitude, not while he’s this young. There’s no way of really knowing. We just have to watch and I know many will.


You Might Like:
Nick Kyrgios: Canadians Support Their Athletes Better Than Australians Do
Andy Murray Doesn’t Think His First Round US Open Opponent Nick Kyrgios Is A Bad Boy
Does This Video Remind Anyone Of Nick Kyrgios? [Video]
Nick Kyrgios Says He’s Learned To Keep His Mouth Shut
Nick Kyrgios Says He And Bernard Tomic Are Not Bad Humans, Not Drug Dealers!

Read more stories about: 2016 Season
Don't miss any tennis action, stay connected with Tennis-X

Get the FREE TX daily newsletter

« »

16 Comments for 8-Week Ban? Nick Kyrgios Got Off Easy

Gregoire Gentil Says:

The other name in tennis which should have taken action is Yonex.

Personally, Kyrgios will make me go away from Yonex – I have a Yonex Ai98 racquet, the racquet of Kyrgios / Ivanonvic now updated to Dr98. Will Yonex see a surge of racquet sale following last week event? I seriously doubt it! Kyrgios makes news indeed but does he make sell??? I will have to see the focus group to be convinced.

Also, $40k isn’t going to bother him! Hit him MUCH harder financially, and he will start to think twice. Another reason for the sponsors to walk away.

October 18th, 2016 at 2:35 pm


elina Says:

Wow. Sean and I are actually in complete agreement on this one one-thousand and one percent.

Why that hasn’t happened since Sean talked about the Weak Era, muahhh see?

Ba-Dum-Bump-Ching!

October 18th, 2016 at 3:15 pm


AndyMira Says:

I agree with everything Sean said..EVERYTHING!Maybe with harder punishment finally can make him see sense that he cannot keep on doing ridiculous thing anymore..If he don’t want to play tennis then quit..go join basketball where he can’t display his bad attitude anymore..Everytime he start tanking matches or showing lack of effort,his team mate will immediately smack his head..There is no way they will allow Nick to ruin their matches..And maybe that’s what he needs actually..A stronger figures around him to rein him in everytime he lost it..Who knows..Although,i enjoy watch him play very much but if he’s not happy with tennis then find something else that can make him happy..Stop torturing yourself Nick!

October 18th, 2016 at 6:01 pm


Wog Boy Says:

“World globalization” is entering tennis, everybody has to behave the same, speak the same (same language), think the same… did I mention North Korea;)?

My English friend told me recently, before we used to travel to see different countries, different people, different culture … it is less and less likely that will be the case in not so far future.

October 18th, 2016 at 6:18 pm


Giles Says:

https://mobile.twitter.com/i/web/status/788703562150862848
This delinquent really is a joke. Should be banned indefinitely.

October 19th, 2016 at 7:52 am


Deidre Says:

I don’t think Nick has meltdowns only on a tennis court and the ATP is trying to get to the root of his problems. Suggesting that someone get professional help hints at more serious issues than mere tennis fans are seeing. I’ m sure his family is relieved!

October 19th, 2016 at 9:11 am


RZ Says:

@Deidre – I agree with your post except the part about his family. From the “Sledgegate” issue, it became clear that his mother and brother are enablers of his bad behavior, so I don’t imagine that they think he needs help.

October 19th, 2016 at 11:51 am


elina Says:

Nick Kyrgios pulls out of Rotterdam Open to play in NBA celebrity game

“We wanted to hold [Kyrgios] to his contract,” the Dutchman told the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting.

“You see what can happens when he is tired and [tennis] has little meaning, as in China. We do not want that. So we decided to terminate his contract. We want a top tennis player seen on the court. Kyrgios prefers his passion beyond his profession.

“If every week he is focused on tennis, he might be mentally burned out after six months. He needs an outlet.”

http://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/37707251

October 19th, 2016 at 2:59 pm


Dennis Says:

He’s repeatedly said he hates tennis. So, please, do us a favor and quit. Stop besmirching the game.

An 8-week ban at the end of the year means he won’t miss much. They should have at least made it 12 to ensure he’d miss the Australian Open. As it is, he misses basically nothing, and greedy promoters will probably lavishes hundreds of thousands on him at exhibition events in late November and December.

October 19th, 2016 at 3:31 pm


Willow Says:

Nick Kyrgios is his own worst enemy im afraid, he has the makings of being a fantastic tennis player, but it takes hard work, discipline, determination, nothing more to say really, other than its all in his hands, nobody can do it for him ….

October 19th, 2016 at 4:06 pm


Khb Says:

Nick knows he can’t reach a Berdych level career. The truth eats him up inside.
Lol Basketball players would cream the overpaid brat Nick!
The fed fanboys love to desperage Berdych, but at least Berdych beat the best players in Slam and Master semis. Nick won’t be very fast because he can’t even move like Del Po or Berdych.

October 19th, 2016 at 4:36 pm


AndyMira Says:

@Giles and Okie..For you guyshttp://www.tennisworldusa.org/news/news/Rafael_Nadal/37446/toni-nadal-i-know-what-s-happening-to-rafa-but-it-s-not-convenient-to-talk-about-it-/?

October 19th, 2016 at 7:06 pm


AndyMira Says:

Oh!Thank GOD!..It worked!

October 19th, 2016 at 7:13 pm


MMT Says:

I think the punishment was insufficient – I don’t like bad behavior, but the integrity of the result is key to the appeal of tennis, and this is not the first time he does this. A ban for a period he’s not going to play anyway (in all likelihood) is not going to make much of a difference. The ban should have been 6 months. He’s not going anywhere, I guarantee it, so there’s no risk of “pushing” him out of the game by insisting that he maintain the integrity of the results.

By the way – Agassi said he hated tennis too, for all the same reasons that, I assume, Kyrgios hates tennis: the internalized pressure of others. That’s why I don’t think it helps him AT ALL to have an entourage of people following him around the world to the remotest of locations, under the guise of supporting him, but in actuality feeding into the very thing that makes him nuts, by hanging on every shot, and jumping up and down at his beck and call, like tamed lions at a circus.

He’s a manchild – the only solution for that is to become a man and starting doing things on his own.

October 21st, 2016 at 3:11 pm


Margot Says:

MMT: I agree with you. And as his first love is basketball he should just get on with his own life and do it. Many sportspeople are multi talented regarding sport anyway.
Seems to me a classic case of parents living their lives through their children, never good.
My pleasure re the joke BTW
#copyright ;)

October 22nd, 2016 at 1:47 am

Top story: Sinner Settles With WADA, Accepts 3-Month Ban, Won't Miss Rome, Won't Miss French Open
Most Recent story: Frustrated Nick Kyrgios Calls Sinner Ban A "Sad Day For Tennis"