If you thought that Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios is cool and refreshingly anti-establishment, this recent interview might change your mind (although, frankly, if you already thought that Nick Kyrgios was cool, after all of his antics, then even this probably won't convince you).
The man is a bully (if you are not sure about THAT, read about his treatment of Stefanos Tsitsipas during his last Wimbledon match). But more than anything, the man is a narcissist and a self-promoting egomaniac. In his view, all publicity is good publicity, even when it's bad publicity (ESPECIALLY when it's bad publicity), and he is willing to do anything that will hone his carefully-constructed "bad boy" public image. The guy has John McEnroe in his camp; that should tell you all you need to know.
Even under-arm serves between the legs are not cool, they are just annoying, and annoying is what he is going for. All the muttering, the outbursts, the cursing, the feigned outrage? His idea of public relations and marketing. Think Donald Trump in tennis whites.
We are supposed to like Kyrgios because he is an "outsider", "exciting" and "unpredictable". I'm sure I have also seen the epithet "authentic" used in his context too, as though other players are somehow artificial. But he is unpleasant, needy and stressful to watch, so I'll forego "exciting", thank you very much.
We should not humour him by paying attention and media coverage. In fact, thinking about it, this whole article was a mistake, so I'm going to stop now.
UPDATE
Just to confirm my contentions, the man is now going up before the courts for a domestic violence incident. Somehow that does not surprise me.
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