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Nick Kyrgios has once again taken to social media to hit back at perceived criticism after he sensationally pulled out of the United Cup on the eve of the tournament.
The 27-year-old firebrand from Canberra was supposed to lead Team Australia in the new mixed-gender event, being held across three different cities from Thursday.
But as media gathered on Wednesday to interview players from all 18 teams, organisers announced Kyrgios had withdrawn from the tournament, citing the need to recover from injuries he sustained while competing in Dubai earlier this month.
Watch Team Australia take on the world in the United Cup, live and exclusive on 9Now and Stan Sport.
Greek superstar and long-time Kyrgios rival Stefanos Tsitsipas took a sly dig at the Aussie over his withdrawal, while Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley leapt to the player’s defence over the decision not to represent his country.
And on Thursday, true to form, Kyrgios took to Twitter to respond to any criticism that had come his way.
”Haha so after all this, all the media, journalism saying how bad I am for the sport, disrespecting the game (and) just a pure villain, I am going to be the number one episode on Netflix… to grow our fan base, basically trying to put tennis on the map again,” he tweeted.
“And essentially putting more money in everyone’s pockets that’s involved with tennis, you all look really ridiculous now your apology should be as loud as your disrespect was.”
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The first episode of Netflix’s new tennis documentary “Break Point” will cover Kyrgios at the 2022 Australian Open, including he and Thanasi Kokkinakis’ run to victory in the men’s doubles draw.
The series is similar to Formula 1’s wildly popular “Drive To Survive”, which has seen the sport explode in popularity since its debut on Netflix in 2018.
One of the most common criticisms of Kyrgios – particularly from some of the more traditional tennis fans – is that his on-court antics aren’t good for the image of the game.
But if “Break Point” can be as successful as “Drive To Survive”, those antics will no doubt be a big reason. behind that.
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