Nick Kyrgios recently raged against his new arch-enemy Jannik Sinner - with the young Cruz Hewitt also coming under fire from the Australian. Tennis legend Andy Roddick is now attacking Kyrgios for his part.
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- Jannik Sinner's doping affair is causing a lot of trouble for Australian tennis pro Nick Kyrgios.
- Recently, in his anger against the Italian, he also took a shot at his young compatriot Cruz Hewitt, who trained with Sinner.
- In his podcast, former world number 1 Andy Roddick criticizes Kyrgios for his attacks - and takes aim at Kyrgios himself.
Jannik Sinner escaped a doping ban despite testing positive twice for a banned steroid last March. The acquittal of the world number one was not met with universal understanding.
Australian tennis bully Nick Kyrgios wrote on X (formerly Twitter): "Ridiculous - whether it was accidental or planned." He continued: "He's tested twice for a banned substance. He should be banned for two years."
Cruz Hewitt, the 16-year-old son of tennis legend Lleyton Hewitt, trained with the world No. 1 before the Australian Open and came under fire from Kyrgios afterwards, who has emerged as the No. 1 critic of the Italian.
"I thought we were mates" (captioned with nine broken hearts), Kyrgios commented on the photo of Hewitt junior and Sinner. He also added a post with syringe emojis.
"Kyrgios lives for likes"
Kyrgios' latest attack has Andy Roddick on the edge of his seat. In his podcast, the former world number 1 takes the Australian to task. "The whole thing is ridiculous," says the US American. He sees the South Tyrolean's story with nuances, while Kyrgios has a black-and-white view of the Sinner case.
He actually wanted to keep a low profile because Kyrgios wants the likes, Roddick emphasizes. "He's a tennis influencer, he lives for likes, he lives in the comments section," he summarizes. Kyrgios has not played a match on the ATP Tour since the summer of 2023 due to injury.
Roddick admits to being a fan of Kyrgios on the court - "one of the most talented players I've ever seen in my life" - but off the court he has a problem with his "hypocrisy in judging others while wanting people to consider the context of his comments", criticizes the 42-year-old.
Roddick holds up a mirror to Kyrgios
It was simply a great experience for Cruz Hewitt. "An almost 30-year-old man commenting on a post by a 16-year-old who has just trained with the best player in the world," says Roddick angrily, referring to Kyrgios: "It's all about him."
"Bringing trolls and the worst aspects of the tennis fan community into a 16-year-old's comment forum is ridiculous," Roddick sums up.
The 2003 US Open winner also holds up a mirror to Kyrgios. The Australian had to apologize in court after pushing his ex-partner to the ground. Kyrgios also blamed psychological problems for this.
Roddick uses this example to illustrate how important context is: "If Sinner is always going to be the guy who failed the drug test, you're always going to be someone who's guilty of abusing a girlfriend."
Kyrgios brings Federer into the game
Kyrgios himself got in touch via X and wrote: "Does Roddick have anything to say about Federer?"
The 29-year-old was alluding to the Swiss player's statements, which also raised questions about integrity and equal treatment in tennis in the fall.
