MEDIA is fuelling the Kyrgios monster. This has to stop.
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There needs to be an 'enough' point to highlighting Australian tennis talent Nick Kyrgios' bad behaviour, not just for him as an individual, but for whole new generations of players pushing through the ranks.
We are on the eve of the French Open and the news focus remains on the chair-throw implications of Kyrgios' childish tantrum in Rome a week ago.
This is despite the fact Australian tennis hope Ash Barty enters the Grand Slam women's draw as eighth seed with a tough but thrilling prospects ahead like a round-16 date with Serena Williams and quarter-final clash with Naomi Osaka.
Alex De Minaur arrives in Paris as the top Australian male, seeded 21, but to check out his potential tournament path and preparations we generally have still had to watch or read about that chair-throw first and how is cost Kyrgios a seeding.
What messages does this send to impressionable young athletes and grassroots heroes?
Kyrgios' bad behaviour is being rewarded.
So too, is his bad public attitude for earning big money and fast celebrity-like lifestyle without having to really put in the hard yards.
Ballarat 16-year-old James O'Sullivan earned a junior national tennis team selection this month. O'Sullivan trains twice a week in Melbourne and plays men's pennant for Kooyong. He told The Courier this week he wants to take his game as far as he can.
Tennis is a notoriously gruelling sport to get anywhere near professional ranks, let along making main draws. Like any sport, this demands discipline, commitment and a good team around you.
Those at the top have an incredible responsibility, whether they like it or not, in setting the standard for what is acceptable.
Natural talent, like any sport, can only get you so far, yet media keeps promoting Kyrgios and the likes of fellow Australian tennis bad boy Bernard Tomic like they are our best.
These guys sadly keep drawing crowds and high-level interest waiting for their next dummy spits. Or worse, people hear those names and automatically switch off. Neither is a good thing for both the game nor Australian sport.
Tennis needs personalities for wider appeal.
This is why personal stories, rather than relying on results, are such an integral part of Australian Open coverage. Personal stories encourage you to be emotionally involved for a players' tournament ride.
Flair is good. Firing up the crowd gives people more to cheer about. But the bad boy era with the likes of John McEnroe, with records to back it up, are over. Modern sport has moved on and so should mainstream media.
Frustrations on court happen in undeniably high-stakes environments. How the best players deal with such situations should be celebrated.
People keep crying out for lessons in resilience and if you look beyond the chair-throwers you will find great role models.
As Ballarat's James O'Sullivan put it, the best thing about tennis is:
You're always in the game, and you can always come-back no matter how far you're down.
These are the kinds of players we should be watching.
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