Former
silver medallist Laura Robson weighed in on a potential matchup between Nick
Kyrgios and
Jannik Sinner at the
Australian Open. Robson is optimistic about
the prospect of this encounter after the Australian expressed his desire to
face the World No. 1 in Melbourne.
Recently,
Kyrgios appeared on the Nothing Major podcast, where he reiterated his
criticism of Sinner over the doping controversy and shared his anticipation of
meeting him on court. "If I played him in the Australian Open, I’d get
every person in the crowd to get on him. I would turn into an absolute riot.
All respect would go out the window and I would just do anything to win."
Robson dissects a potential Kyrgios-Sinner showdown
The 2022
Wimbledon runner-up is set to return to the tour in less than two weeks at the
Brisbane International, where he will share the draw with players like Novak
Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, and Holger Rune. Kyrgios will also feature in the
doubles draw, forming a new and unprecedented partnership with Novak Djokovic.
Once his
participation in Brisbane concludes, Kyrgios will head to Melbourne, where he
will compete in singles using his protected ranking. He will also appear in
doubles alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis, with whom he won the Australian Open
title in 2022.
Robson, who
has previously worked with Kyrgios during TV broadcasts, reflected on his
comments from Nothing Major. She suggested that the matchup would be a
fascinating challenge for both players but hopes Kyrgios’s desire to involve
the crowd doesn’t go too far. "I don't think you ever want a situation
where all respect goes out the window," Robson told Eurosport. "If we
can avoid that, that would be great.
"It
would be super interesting if they played each other, especially in the early
rounds, because Nick, he's an unpredictable player anyway. But if you played
him first round, you just know that you're going to get no rhythm and you'll be
walking side to side on his service games quite a lot as he aces you.
Nick Kyrgios played just one match in the last two seasons.
"I
think it would have to be close enough for the crowd to get that involved,
wouldn't it? It would have to get to a tight scoreline and something that they
can grab onto,” she added. “I want to say he's got that challenge on his hands
first to keep it really close, and then we'll see. Because we know that Sinner
is going to be sharp in that situation, too."
Kyrgios has
been controversial with his criticism of both Sinner and World No. 2 Iga
Swiatek following their doping cases. Swiatek’s recent suspension indirectly
brought Sinner’s case back into the conversation, an opportunity Kyrgios seized
to reiterate his sharp criticism.
"I
mean, it's not a shock that Nick is opinionated, and he's entitled to his
feelings," Robson continued. "They're not my personal feelings.
"And I
would say Sinner's dealt with the case almost as best as he could, the way he's
been able to compartmentalise everything. He's done everything by the book,
from what I understand, and reading the long, long document from the tribunal.
He did everything according to what was asked of him.
"At
that point, I think you've just got to leave it to the authorities, basically,
haven't you? They've deemed him able to play. They've deemed him no negligence.
At that point, in my mind, what's done is done,” she added. "Obviously,
there's still some lingering concerns because the case has escalated again and
it's ongoing for 2025.
"But
Nick has his opinion and it will certainly make things more interesting, maybe
more spicy if they were to play each other,” the former World No. 26 stated.
“But I think when on the court, it's a different situation. I imagine that a
lot of that talk will go out the window if they ended up playing each
other."