Should Nick Kyrgios cause 'absolute riot' against Jannik Sinner at potential Australian Open clash, Mats Wilander questions if Italian can handle it
Nick Kyrgios' controversial comment regarding a potential matchup with Jannik Sinner at the upcoming Australian Open continues to make headlines in the tennis world. This time, former World No. 1 Mats Wilander has weighed in and wondered how the Italian will react if Kyrgios turns the home crowd against him.
Nick Kyrgios will return to the Australian Open after a two-year absence and recently outlined his plans if he faces defending champion Jannik Sinner in Melbourne. Kyrgios, who has been an ardent critic of Sinner since his doping scandal, has professed his wish to cause an "absolute riot" and "lose all respect."
"I just want to go out there and I really want to play Sinner. Like I'm waiting for it man. Well, I thought about this and I've been thinking, I've been talking about it a little bit, like if I played him in Australian Open, like I would get every single person in the crowd to just like get on him. Like I would just turn it into an absolute riot. Like I would lose all respect, all respect would go out the window and I would just do anything to win," Kyrgios said on the Nothing Major podcast.
Three-time Australian Open champion Mats Wilander reacted to Kyrgios' comment during his interview with Eurosport and expressed confidence in the Australian's ability to disrupt the rhythm of the world's best players. On the other hand, the Swede also accepted that Sinner was completely innocent of doping charges and would not knowingly do anything illegal.
"Nick Kyrgios says he wants to disrupt and antagonise if he plays. He's disrupting matches at the best of times against any player, but in a way, I believe Jannik Sinner is completely innocent. There's no chance that he was trying to do something illegal, and it was not his fault whatsoever," Wilander said.
The 60-year-old also wondered if Sinner would be able to keep his cool if Kyrgios turned a randy crowd in Melbourne hostile towards him. Wilander noted that the Australian Open lets anyone with a ground pass access all courts.
"It would be interesting to see if Jannik Sinner could hold and keep his cool if he played someone like Nick Kyrgios on, let's say, the old Vodafone, John Cain Arena. They let all the ground pass holders at the Australian Open come in, so the average age in the crowd goes from 60 years old down to 16 years old or maybe 20 and some of them are having a few beers too many.
"That atmosphere would be interesting to see if Sinner could keep his cool if Nick Kyrgios really gets on top of him," Wilander added.
Former pro-turned-commentator urges Nick Kyrgios and Jannik Sinner to avoid conflict on court
Former WTA World No. 27 Laura Robson gave her take on Nick Kyrgios' plan to disrupt Jannik Sinner at the 2025 Australian Open to Eurosport. The Brit urged both men to remain civil and maintain respect for each other if they play each other in Melbourne.
"I don't think you ever want a situation where all respect goes out the window. If we can avoid that, that would be great," Robson said.
Now a tennis commentator, Robson expressed excitement over a potential Sinner vs. Krygios showdown, especially if it occurs in the early rounds. She also argued that the Australian's big serve would cause problems for any player, let alone the World No. 1.
"It would be super interesting if they played each other, especially in the early rounds, because Nick, he's an unpredictable player anyway. But if you played him first round, you just know that you're going to get no rhythm and you'll be walking side to side on his service games quite a lot as he aces you," she added.
Nick Kyrgios, who has not played tennis since October 2022, was granted a main draw entry at the 2025 Australian Open via a wildcard. Meanwhile, Sinner is the defending champion at the year's first Grand Slam and will be the top seed.