'Out Of Control': Kyrgios Speaks Out About Social Media Hate

Monday, 03 July 2023 at 06:30

Updated at Thursday, 31 July 2025 at 19:14

byZachary Wimer

Nick Kyrgios is a player who has dealt with a lot of hate on social media, and he doesn't really understand why it happens.

Kyrgios, like any other athlete, has dealt with a lot of hate on social media. Unfortunately, any public person has to expect a fair share of negative comments circling online about them.

Many tennis players spoke about it in the past, and it's a major problem. Regular people are not excluded from that, but they face it on a much smaller scale.

For Kyrgios, there are ways to combat it. As the Australian revealed in his pre-event press conference at Wimbledon, he has been choosing to step away from his phone more and more.

"Yeah, I mean, I've consciously made an effort to try and get off my phone more and more now. At tournaments, when you lose matches, when you win matches, it's a rabbit hole."

"I think a lot of players on the tour struggle with that. I think many players have shared their opinion on what they get online. Some of the players share it on social media."

Like many of his colleagues, Kyrgios is horrified by the amount of hate that can happen in these public domain spaces. The criticism, negativity, and just how often it happens leave the Australian baffled.

He doesn't think it's normal at all. There were plenty of examples in the past of how crazy it can be.

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"And it's horrible what I think athletes have to deal with. I don't think it's normal at all, how much criticism, how much negativity, how much sniping that people have to deal with now. Especially some players, it's out of control."

In a recent interview, Kyrgios opened up about the racism he had to face in his career. He couldn't really pinpoint why people resort to such things when asked by the media why it happens.

"I don't know. It's a hard question. I don't know. What do you think? I don't know. It's odd. Some of the comments, they're funny. Some of them are hurtful. I don't know. I don't know why they do that."

"I guess that's what social media has done, it's created, and it makes people think they're relevant, that they have a platform. They say things to people that they wouldn't even dream about saying to my face. It makes them feel like they're good at something when they're really not."