Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has taken a fresh swipe at former Davis Cup teammate Bernard Tomic, claiming the world No. 417 is “not very good anymore” and “dead broke”.
Both of them have had a similar breakout party in tennis with both emerging at Wimbledon as teenagers. The controversial and outspoken pair’s relationship has been up and down over the years and things escalated dramatically last week as Kyrgios labelled Tomic “the most hated athlete in Australia”.
He blasted him once more this week saying:
“He’s not relevant anymore, he’s not good anymore, and he’s obviously got money issues. For someone who actually tried to stand up for him before and actually try and help him out … my family helped him out before. I paid for his flights back from Shanghai because he had no money."
Kyrgios continued:
“For him to come out and attack me is extremely disrespectful, I think. I am one of the people who actually tried to stand by him and tried to support him. First of all, I don’t know who’s going to put the million dollars for him because he’s dead broke. Second of all, I have bigger fish to fry. I’m trying to get ready for Wimbledon and the US Open. But one day if it happens I want 95 per cent of the cut because no one is watching it for him anymore."
Kyrgios finished off with:
“He’s got a lot of struggles right now, and I feel for him. He’s someone that had an extremely brutal upbringing and there’s no denying that. But I feel like he lives in the past now, it’s time to take ownership of your life, show some accountability. I’m making millions of dollars right now … tournaments are still paying me €50,000 (AU$74,000) just to show up. I don’t need to get in the ring, I’m not desperate. I’m a professional tennis player, still playing at the highest level of sport. Bernard is not.