Nick Kyrgios has been told he is “lucky” to have been allowed to compete at Wimbledon this year by Andy Murray’s former coach Miles Maclagan. The Australian star lit up Court 3 at the All England Club on Tuesday with a firecracker five-set win over Britain’s Paul Jubb.
Kyrgios had numerous outbursts throughout the match which kicked off inside the opening 12 minutes, ranting at a member of the crowd. He continued to complain about the fans and admitted spitting towards one spectator after hitting his match-winning shot.
However, Maclagan feels the 27-year-old should have been issued with a ban by the ATP before the tournament because of his actions in Acapulco. Back in February, Kyrgios almost hit a ball boy with his racket in a rage after his quarter-final loss to Rafael Nadal. After the match Kyrgios sent the youngster a message and gifted his racket as an apology.
“Some of it is certainly unacceptable and he has talked about creating a drama and an energy around his matches. If you do that you are going to invite a certain atmosphere in the crowd,” Maclagan told Sky Sports.
“If you do look to involve them and create an energy there is going to be some form of interaction and I feel he just wants it all his own way at the moment. He doesn’t like it when they’re not for him.
“In fact he is lucky to be here at all in my opinion because back in February (sic) in Acapulco after a match he threw his racket and a ball kid had to duck out of the way to avoid being hit.
“He got off very lightly with that so I think he should be grateful that he is here at all.”
Maclagan also suggested that Kyrgios should avoid taking advice from social media and accused the Australian Open doubles champion of playing “Jerry Springer tennis”.
