Nick Kyrgios 'lives and breathes nothing but provocative statements', says former Wimbledon champion - Tennis365

[Shahida Jacobs]

Former world No 7 Marion Bartoli admits at some point “you just get fed up” with Nick Kyrgios’ “provocative statements” with her comments coming on the back of his latest attack on Jannik Sinner.

Kyrgios has taken several public swipes at Sinner since it was announced that the world No 1 failed two anti-doping tests.

The Italian tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid Clostebol in March and was provisionally suspended, but he successfully appealed and was allowed to return to action immediately.

The issue only came to light in August when the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced that Sinner had been cleared of any wrongdoing as he bore “no fault or negligence” as the substance entered his system via massage from his former physiotherapist.

The 23-year-old also escaping a ban, but Kyrgios was unimpressed with the decision as he posted on social media: “Ridiculous – whether it was accidental or planned. You get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance… you should be gone for 2 years. Your performance was enhanced. Massage cream…. Yeah nice.”

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The Australian recently upped the ante as he told the Nothing Major podcast that he hopes to play Sinner at the Australian Open.

“Let’s be honest, I really want to go out there, and I really want to play Sinner,” he stated. “If I played him in the Australian Open, I’d get every person in the crowd to get on him. I would turn into an absolute riot. All respect would go out the window and I would just do anything to win.”

The 29-year-old has come under fire from various in the tennis community and 2013 Wimbledon winner Bartoli is the latest to express her opinion.

“I am not surprised, because Kyrgios lives and breathes nothing but provocative statements,” she said on “Les Grandes Gueules du Sport” on RMC Sports. “I would remind you that this is a player who was capable of saying absolute horrors to Stan Wawrinka, who is one of the most polite, most loved and most respected players on a tennis court, at a Masters 1000 in the middle of a match.

“We don’t even know what’s going through his head, I’m not even going to tell you what he said, those who follow tennis know. Now, with all his provocative statements, after a while, you just get fed up. It’s enough!

“In any case, Sinner isn’t going to respond. And if he plays it on the court, even if it’s still tennis, on the one hand we have a player who is world No 1, has just won two Grand Slams and has become virtually unbeatable, and on the other a Nick Kyrgios who hasn’t played in official competition since June 13, 2023.”