Nick Kyrgios has given his feelings about Rafael Nadal's decision to pull out of the 2024 Australian Open.
Kyrgios understands how it feels to suffer from injury woes. He has only played one match in the last 12 months, which was a failed comeback attempt to be ready for Wimbledon on the grass courts of Stuttgart.
That injury is why Kyrgios will be working as a pundit at the Australian Open. He gained some experience in that role towards the end of last season when he worked on the Tennis Channel during the 2023 ATP Finals.
The Australian is known for being very fiery at times with the opinions he gives. An example of this is when Kyrgios lashed out at a former world No. 1, creating many headlines in the process.
However, the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up's tone was far from fiery in his tweet about Nadal; instead, he expressed sadness that the 22-time Grand Slam champion had another injury issue.
"Feel for Rafa man. Get better soon, that was the fear for me as well, coming back a little too soon...."
Some criticized Kyrgios in the replies to the tweet. They felt that he was making the situation about him and pointed to examples of the 28-year-old doing that in the past on social media platforms.
However, on this occasion, this seems harsh on Kyrgios. Although he is a divisive character, recent injury problems are something that he shares with Nadal. Having some empathy for another player who has been going through issues similar to his in the last 12 months does not seem like an inherently bad thing.
Nadal and Kyrgios have had some epic matches in the past, especially at Wimbledon. Hopefully, we can see them on the court together at some point, at least one more time.
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