Former world number one
John McEnroe has made his
feelings known about
Nick Kyrgios missing
Wimbledon this year. The third Grand
Slam of the year will begin on June 30 in London. Kyrgios will miss the
competition for the third consecutive year because of a knee injury sustained
just before the start of the French Open.
Soon after announcing withdrawal from the competition, it
was reported that the BBC had signed Kyrgios to feature in the panel for Wimbledon
2025. However, the British broadcasters later snubbed Kyrgios after receiving backlash
from the fans who were unhappy to see a person part of the transmission who had accepted
assaulting his girlfriend in the past.
Former world number one McEnroe, who recently spoke to the Daily Mirror, stated that he will miss seeing Kyrgios feature in the competition. McEnroe made those comments despite the BBC's press officer obstructing the
reporter who asked about Kyrgios.
"I'm okay talking about Nick Kyrgios," he said.
"If anyone's heard me talk about Nick Kyrgios, it's in the sense that I
would prefer to see him playing, because he's one of the most talented guys
that I've seen on a tennis court. In any sport watching and especially someone
who's playing the same sport I play, you always try to maximise, hopefully,
what you can accomplish. I didn't feel like I did. And so you put a lot of
pressure on yourself. And so it's sort of a shame that he hasn't been able to
figure out the way to do that. We all have problems with that, but it's too
bad. I don't know why he's not playing."
Kyrgios, following the BBC snub, in an interview with The
Guardian, stated that he does not consider missing out on Wimbledon coverage a
significant loss. "It's unfortunate but it's probably their loss more than
mine," he said. "I understand they've got Chris Eubanks but he hasn't
beaten the greatest of all time multiple times. When someone's beaten Federer,
Nadal, Murray and Djokovic and has incredible insights, it's very strange you
wouldn't want that person adding knowledge to tennis fans. I'm sure our paths
will cross again. I only ever want to add humour, some knowledge and some great
atmosphere."