"I’d appreciate if you kept my name out of your mouth to keep you relevant" - Nick Kyrgios hits back at Jimmy Arias for mocking his remarks
Nick Kyrgios has hit back at former tennis player Jimmy Arias for criticizing him over his comments about the ATP tour's hectic schedule.
Kyrgios is sidelined at the moment due to a wrist injury, which also forced him to miss Wimbledon 2023. Despite his absence from the tour, however, the Australian recently lashed out at the sport's intense schedule, claiming it may cause him to retire in a few years.
He said in an interview:
"The sport’s crazy. The schedule is out of control. No f**king chance [I play till I am 33], there’s no way. There's no chance. I'm playing till 33? Insane! I'm not playing till 33. I promise you when I'm gone, you'll never see me again"
Former World No. 5 Jimmy Arias subsequently said that Nick Kyrgios's remarks about the tour schedule made no sense to him as the Aussie has only played one match this year.
Arias told Tennis Channel:
"I don't know what he's talking about when he says this schedule is out of control. He's played one match this year. He seems to take every other year off, so he should be able to play for another 25 years."
Arias continued:
"It's just interesting to listen to him talk, let's see what happens when he's 33. But as we're talking right now, I don't know [if] he's gonna play five more matches [this year]. He's played once so far this year. I'm not sure [his] wrist, knee [or] his tattoo is hurting him too much [from playing] Pokemon maybe. I don't know."
Arias' comments quickly reached Nick Kyrgios, who took to Twitter to tell the former professional to stop talking about him. Kyrgios added that he had no idea who Arias was.
"@ariastennis you got some sort of issue? Although I had no idea who you were before my mate messaged me 10 mins ago, I’d appreciate if you kept my name out of your mouth to keep you relevant… well at least to give you some form of credibility," he tweeted.
@ariastennis you got some sort of issue? Although I had no idea who you were before my mate messaged me 10 mins ago, I’d appreciate if you kept my name out of your mouth to keep you relevant… well at least to give you some form of credibility.
"At least have a better career then someone before you criticize them" - Nick Kyrgios
A Twitter user quickly responded to Nick Kyrgios' post, stating that Jimmy Arias is a former World No. 5 player and asking the Australian what achievements he had.
The user wrote:
"Former world number 5. And you?"
@NickKyrgios @ariastennis Former world number 5. And you?
The former Wimbledon finalist then slammed Arias' career and compared it to his own, claiming that the American should have a better career than him before criticizing them.
Nick Kyrgios wrote:
"Lol 5 titles and Slam semi final. That’s cute, at least have a better career then someone before you criticise them."
@jfleck2020 @ariastennis Lol 5 titles and slam semi final. That’s cute, at least have a better career then someone before you criticise them 😂😂😂