"Always had a problem with that"- Chris Evert disagrees with John McEnroe's claim that tennis needs more temperamental personalities like Nick Kyrgios
John McEnroe recently stated that tennis needs more entertaining personalities like Nick Kyrgios. Chris Evert disagreed with his statement and said that she had a problem with players feeling the need to alter their temparaments for the sake of entertainment.
When asked why professional tennis players have issues with anger management, McEnroe said that he disagreed with the idea that many players have meltdowns in modern tennis. He acknowledged that there are some players like Kyrgios who have frequent outbursts. However, he believes that overall, players are very well-behaved, perhaps even too much so.
The American implied that his own experience with meltdowns gave him a unique perspective on the issue.
“You must be watching different tournaments than me because I don’t see many players having meltdowns at all. And I know something about meltdowns, my past experience, and I’ve seen a couple of players, obviously Nick Kyrgios comes to mind having meltdowns on a pretty regular basis, but for the most part, tennis players are incredibly well behaved, maybe too well behaved in my book," John McEnroe said.
John McEnroe remarked that he would like to see more players display an explosive temper and show their emotions on the court. He gave the example of Elena Rybakina's calm and composed celebration when she won the 2022 Wimbledon title as something no one wants to see.
"I’d like to see a little bit more explosive temper, see the emotions, wear it on their sleeve, there’s a handful of people you see that, but I just saw someone win Wimbledon on the girl’s side (Rybakina) who didn’t show any emotion, so I don’t know if any of us wanna see that," the seven-time Grand Slam champion said.
Chris Evert disagreed with McEnroe's views and said that while explosive personalities are great, players should not feel the need to change their natural personalities and temperaments for the sake of entertainment.
"Personalities are great… but changing one’s nature or temperament for the sake of entertaining? Always had a problem with that!," Evert wrote on Twitter.
🤔🤷♀️ twitter.com/gigicat7_/stat…
Personalities are great… but changing one’s nature or temperament for the sake of entertaining? Always had a problem with that!😉🤔🤷♀️ twitter.com/gigicat7_/stat…
Nick Kyrgios says that his personality makes it hard to be a professional tennis player
Nick Kyrgios, who is recovering from a knee injury, recently held a question and answer session with his fans.
When questioned about the toughest part of being a professional tennis player, Kyrgios referred to his own personality as the biggest challenge.
"Honestly, me being the personality that I am... In a sport that likes to stay in a small little box," Kyrgios answered.
The Australian also provided an injury update and posted videos of himself working out in the gym.
"I'm getting there! Still a long way to go, but can do some extensions... so that's a start!," Kyrgios wrote.
Nick Kyrgios intends to make his return to the ATP tour at the Indian Wells Masters, scheduled to begin in the second week of March.