Nick Kyrgios made a return to tennis at the Stuttgart Open but the Australian was beaten easily by Chinese player Wu who was playing his first match on grass.
There was a lot of excitement about the return of Kyrgios but he was disappointed in his first match showing himself not to be ready to play. Former player
Rennae Stubbs commented on the situation on social media pointing out the difference in how Venus Williams approached her match compared to him:
"Watching Venus, a 40-plus-year-old (5 x Wimbledon
champ) busting her ass to win a match and losing in 3 sets and then
seeing Nick K basically tank a game to lose a set, is the part where
respect is earned."
Fans push back against Stubbs
Her comment wasn't well received by many fans who pushed back against that narrative calling the take horrible:
"Please Rennae, this is a horrible take. NK is coming
off serious knee surgery and cannot move well at all right now, you’d
realise that if you were actually watching and not just reporting based
on checking the scores. Do better."
Stubbs wasn't interested in any of that responding:
"I’m watching the match chief. If you’re injured stop!
If you’re not at 100% don’t keep playing. Thanks for the advice though
pal."
She then clarified her stance that she wants to see him return to his best as much as anyone else but she was disappointed in him 'tanking' his way through a match. If he wasn't ready to play he simply shouldn't have played:
"I hope and want Nick back as much as anyone. I love
watching him play, that is NOT the point. He shouldn’t be out there
tanking if he’s not 100% and if he’s further hurting himself. And i was
watching the whole thing."