Nick Kyrgios reveals plan to spice up tennis ahead of Australian Open return - mic'd up players and three sets at slams
Updated 09/12/2024 at 15:06 GMT
Nick Kyrgios is set to finally get back to competitive tennis after a nightmarish spell out of the game with injury, playing just once since October 2022. The Australian, 29, will make his comeback at the forthcoming Australian Open, with every moment to be streamed live on discovery+. Meanwhile, Kyrgios has been busy concocting a plan to grow tennis' appeal - starting with mic'ing up the players.
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What would you change to increase tennis' appeal? Nick Kyrgios has had some time out of the game to consider what he would do, and the Australian has come up with some fascinating suggestions.
Kyrgios, dogged by injury since his annus mirabilis in 2022 - when he took a set off Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final - is on the comeback trail and will make his return at the forthcoming Australian Open, live on Eurosport and discovery+.
Appearing on The Sit-Down podcast, Kyrgios donned his creative hat to propose the following...
Mic up the players
A radical one first up, but something that would definitely have fans - and players - talking.
Kyrgios said: "I would have players mic'd up. I think if you watch the NBA, the uniform or kit that they wear, they professionally put a mic inside the shirt around the collar, so you can't feel it.
"Not doing that [in tennis] is absurd for me – why would you not have like Novak or [Carlos] Alcaraz mic'd up to hear what they're saying?
"Even before the points, you see some of these amazing athletes – I do it myself sometimes – before a big point, they're talking to themselves.
"The content that you could create from that already would have tennis fans glued to their phone."
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'Noooooooo!' - Kyrgios in disbelief over Alcaraz's shot-making against Zverev
Video credit: TNT Sports
Slams to be three sets - until quarters
Citing compatriot Li Tu, who found himself at one set all with Carlos Alcaraz at this year's US Open, Kyrgios has a way to help eradicate some of the predictability in slams.
He said: "I think best of three [sets] up until the quarter-finals, and from then on it's best of five. That's what I would immediately change at a Grand Slam.
"If you made it best of three up until the quarter-finals, you'd see some guys break through to the quarter-finals, but then obviously the better players would end up winning best of five.
"And the first week would be more exciting... How many times have we seen one of the best players in the draw lose the first set and you're just like, 'he's going to come back and win it anyway'?
"When Li Tu won a set against Alcaraz early on [in the US Open first round]. Now it's one set all, and then it's one set [to go] – that could change Li's entire career. He beats Alcaraz on the Centre Court at the US Open – you become a name.
"I think that would be a cool thing to change."
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commentary 'Shake-up'
Kyrgios stepped into the Eurosport commentary booth at this year's Australian Open, sharing a wider array of engrossing insights. He feels this area is ripe for some modernisation.
"I'm not a very critical commentator," he said. "I don't like when commentators beat down [on players] or are too critical, because it's not easy out there, in today's day and age, the game's so physical.
"Tennis commentating right now needs a bit of a shake-up, I think.
"I guess when you've really played, and you understand the Futures and the Challengers, like how many players there are on a global scale, [you understand] how hard it is to actually make it into the top 128 players to make a Grand Slam.
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"Our job as commentators is to study these players and know their journey, and hopefully get their name out there. We can't just continually promote the same players over and over again. There are some good players out there that no-one knows.
"When someone turns on the TV, they might not know – we're not talking about the fans that have followed the sport for 20 years – we're talking about new fans and bringing them to the game. They're not going to know anything about these players.
"So the commentating needs to be up-to-date, I guess, in a way. It needs to be, like, kind of how the generation is now. They can't concentrate for more than a couple of minutes, so it needs to be loud, it needs to be energetic for a 20-second, 30-second [bit] and that might grab a new fan."
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Mixed doubles only
And finally, Kyrgios had a suggestion for tennis to make the most of its unique doubles format.
He said: "What other sport can you get your favourite female athlete and your favourite male athlete competing on the same side of the net, for good prize money? It's not possible. Like, you don't see it in any other sport really.
"So at Masters events, instead of men's doubles and women's doubles, it should just be mixed."
Asked if he would himself take part, Kyrgios replied: "100% I would. Definitely.
"There's plenty of good players I'd love to play with, past and present. I've had the honour of playing with Serena and Venus [Williams].
"I would have loved to have played with Ash Barty at some stage. I think she was by far one of the most talented female players to ever play the game. I think we would have done some damage on the court, for sure."
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