By Erik Gudris | Monday, August 17, 2015

 

Tennis Now's Erik Gudris writes that the idea that Nick Kyrgios might be good for tennis won't end up as a future reality of the sport.

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The "sledge" heard around the world is still keeping tennis fans enthralled (but more likely appalled) as the fallout from Nick Kyrgios' lewd on-court comments in Montreal continue generating headlines for a second week.

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Kyrgios' scandalous remark during his Montreal match with Stan Wawrinka about fellow Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis and WTA player Donna Vekic spilled over into this week's combined event in Cincinnati. During a qualifying match, Kokkinakis endured verbal jabs from American Ryan Harrison (also known for being a hothead himself), about being part of Kyrgios' "crew” that boiled over into a near physical confrontation before officials intervened. In a later interview, Kokkinakis expressed disappointment in Kyrgios' comment about him and added, "It's been interesting. It's been a circus."

While the tennis tour is like a circus, in that players travel from town to town each week, the kind of circus Kokkinakis referred to is the less desired one of name-calling, gossip, and bad publicity that spills over into the public arena. Part of the post-fallout conversation is that some have taken the view that Kyrgios' ongoing bad behavior, including well-before Montreal, is actually a good thing for the sport.

In this current age of decorum and on-court friendliness between the ATP's biggest names, some tennis fans and observers have pined for the "glory days" of entertaining animosity during the 1970s and 1980s between John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Ilie Nastase, and several more pros from that era. The argument goes that "bad boys", or even "villains" spice things up with trash talk and perceived hatred of the other player and have the potential to attract larger audiences to the sport than the usual day-in, day-out diehard fan.

The Kyrgios incident certainly has brought more attention to the sport over the last few days. But, if we are viewing this as some sort of alternate reality test of the tour's possible future, then the results don't justify going down this path for several reasons, most of which have nothing to do with Kyrgios at all.

Kyrgios' behavior in Montreal was completely unacceptable for tennis, and frankly, and for any other professional sport. As far as the dust-up between Kokkinakis and Harrison that was spawned from Kyrgios' foul-mouthed mutterings, while it might have added some extra intrigue for those watching the match, the large majority of tennis fans are neither interested in nor ready for pro tennis as it exists to devolve into some odd form of pro wrestling, complete with pre-match smack down talk from each player. Now there might be some fans that would like that, but the reality is that the sport, and the business, of tennis is in a very different place than where it was 40 years ago.

Remember when Connors and Nastase engaged in their many on-court altercations, many times those spats were overblown between the two great competitors to generate more interest in the then nascent men's pro tour. Fans, at the time, responded with increased attendance. When McEnroe rose to fame, the tennis culture by then had became more tolerant of their bad behavior. Even the great Arthur Ashe in an op-ed piece written in 1979 had to admit those brash antics, which 20 years ago would have been rejected, was now part of the norm.

Times are much different now. The professional tour is more corporate with sponsors and television calling most of the shots behind the scenes. With players seeking to cash in on lucrative sponsorship deals, they are less likely to want to ruffle any feathers on-court or off for fear of seeming "unlikable". And tennis fans, as a whole, have routinely lashed out in no uncertain terms against perceived bad behavior or sportsmanship in both men's and women's tours.

Sure, there are some pros whose reputations for prickly personalities have earned them cult-like status and usually weekly fines. But none of them are ever going to emerge from their sideshow status as the bulk of tennis fans choose to ignore their exploits completely. Even if a so-called "villain" emerged that could contend for the sport's biggest titles week-in, week-out, it might generate interest in the larger media, but it wouldn't be a surprise if most tennis fans chose to tune out the antagonist instead, by not watching at home and not paying for tournament tickets.

Roger Federer, when asked on the matter, likely gave a hint to Kyrgios’ fate in the next few weeks when he said, "I think we all agree that he definitely crossed the line by a long shot. We're not used to that kind of talk in tennis. I know in other sports it's quite common, maybe normal. Not in our sport, really. I think it's normal that the tour comes down hard on him and explains to him that it's not the way forward."

If Kyrgios does get the proverbial book thrown at him with a hefty fine and possible suspension, it could well send a stern message to all players known for bad behavior of “It’s time to clean up your act too.” But even if Kyrgios doesn’t suffer any more punishment, his bad behavior is not setting the stage for some rough and tumble tennis future, only because the tennis fans of today will never allow it to happen.