Kyrgios called out for disrespecting Federer with Djokovic post

Roger Federer announces retirement from professional tennis

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Nick Kyrgios has been criticised by some tennis fans for an Instagram post supposedly disrespecting Roger Federer over his retirement. The Aussie posted a picture on his story saying goodbye to the tennis legend but also joked that Novak Djokovic now saw an opportunity for more Grand Slam titles, referencing the smiling Serb who was in the photograph behind the Swiss superstar. 

Kyrgios regularly divides opinion in the tennis world, with some fans believing his maverick tendencies improve the sport while others are put off by his often aggressive on-court behaviour and regular outbursts. He has a rocky relationship with many of his colleagues, something he experiencedd with Djokovic until this year when the pair mended their relationship and struck up something of a bromance. 

However, the World No 20 has largely had a positive relationship with Federer, regularly praising his ability and contribution to tennis. Despite this, many tennis followers were up in arms about his most recent post regarding the 20-time major champion’s retirement with some believing it was disrespectful to make a joke out of the situation. 

Posting a picture of Federer taking the acclaim of his tennis rivals, Kyrgios made light of the fact Djokovic looked like he was smiling while Rafael Nadal was in floods of tears. He started the post by writing: “Goodbye King,” before going on to say. “Novak knows his chance for slams is better now. Rafa is shattered.”

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There was a passionate reaction to the post within the tennis community. It was originally picked up by an account @yas_memes who tweeted an x-rated reply to the photograph. It said: “B**** WHAT???? The AUDACITY??” 

This in turn received more responses with other supporters calling him out for perceived stupidity. 

@tennisandlocs said: “Once an idiot always an idiot. Some of you needed reminding.” while @deminaurs said: “Can’t believe he has the audacity to say this!!! It was such an emotional evening and he thinks saying this is appropriate honestly, what an idiot.”

Others called him out for a lack of shame and insisted no one would feel the same way about him when the Australian eventually decided to hang up his racket. 

@EBethG_ wrote: “The fact he wrote this without shame. And somebody please inform that piece of shit that Novak cried as well.” Before @everythingtaboo added: “Nobody gonna to be crying when NK retires. Unless they’re tears of joy.” 

Some even went as far to suggest it should be enough to see the 27-year-old expelled from the ATP with @deziraygouw stating: “This clown needs to be banned from tour. So annoying…”

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However, much of the criticism appears to be somewhat premature, especially after Kyrgios posted a heartfelt post in the Swiss stars honour immediately after he announced his retirement. 

The Instagram post, which was coupled with a range of happy photographs of the pair playing together was captioned: “no one will ever play the game like you. enjoy it @rogerfederer …… was an honour.”

Federer dominated the head-to-head matches between the two players, winning six of their seven encounters. The last of which came in the Laver Cup in 2019 with the 41-year-old claiming victory in the Champions tie-break. 

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