This was Craig Tiley’s doomsday scenario.
After two nightmare years impacted by COVID-19, this was supposed to be the Australian Open’s coming-out party. No masks, no RAT tests – but, now, no Nick Kyrgios either.
Kyrgios’ withdrawal due to a knee injury is less a hammer blow and more tsunami-like for the suddenly not-so-happy slam. Tiley can kiss goodbye to his hopes of 900,000 fans walking through the Melbourne Park gates.
A knee injury forced Nick Kyrgios to withdraw from the Australian Open.Credit:Vince Caligiuri/Tennis Australia
Channel Nine chiefs were likely still thumping desks hours after the news broke.
Kyrgios drags in the casuals, the once-a-yearers, the non-tennis fans. That makes him arguably tennis’ most valuable commodity, and certainly the Australian Open’s. He sold out a glorified exhibition match at Rod Laver Arena, for goodness’ sake.
No one person is bigger than an event of the Australian Open’s size, but Kyrgios is pretty much as close as it gets.
Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Ash Barty are gone for good, while world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, Naomi Osaka, Ajla Tomljanovic, Marin Cilic and Paula Badosa had already pulled out, so this was the last thing the tournament needed.
The walking headline gets stadiums heaving during his always-colourful matches and raises the pulse of even the coolest characters, whether from one of his cannon-ball forehands, a thunderous ace or the theatrics that follow.
The grand slam will lose immeasurable TV viewers, column inches, entertainment value and serious clout without the sport’s greatest showman.
Craig Tiley.Credit:Justin McManus
Would any other athlete, bar the late Shane Warne, have a story written about them for not wearing a helmet while riding around on a scooter, like Kyrgios did on Monday? Part of his appeal is that he is flawed.
And don’t challenge him on social media, where his acid-tongued tweets draw a cult following and have claimed numerous victims.
Even Netflix turned to him to breathe life into its Break Point tennis documentary. They know, Tiley knows and even Kyrgios knows he is irreplaceable, love him or loathe him.
This is the man who convinced people to turn up to watch doubles.
Playing on the same night as Barty’s drought-busting Australian Open singles triumph last year, Kyrgios and great mate Thanasi Kokkinakis helped set new TV ratings records.
“Obviously, Ash is a hell of a player, but I think the ratings speak for themselves. People watch my matches, everywhere I play around the world the stadiums are full for that reason,” Kyrgios said last year.
“There’s a reason why the ratings are the way they are, and people are glued to the TV when we play. Speaks for itself, really.”
Brash? Yep. Not giving Barty enough credit? Probably. But was he largely accurate? Absolutely.
The nation is still mourning Barty’s retirement, and it was only this time last year when there were murmurings that Kyrgios might do the same. We never got to say a proper farewell to Roger Federer either.
Kyrgios promises he will be back, so that is not the point here. But he told us on tournament eve – even though he was clearly already aware of his knee issues – that he finally believed he was a genuine grand slam title contender.
The at-times troubled superstar seemed to be figuring his on-court self out across the past 12 months. We saw that at Wimbledon, where he roared through the draw before Novak Djokovic stopped him in the final.
That performance, plus Kyrgios’ pre-event comments, buoyed hopes he was setting himself for the deepest of runs at this Australian Open.
No longer was his involvement going to be a thoroughly entertaining cameo: the plan was for Melbourne Park to be rocking every other day right to the end. How will John Cain Arena devotees cope?
Kyrgios turns 28 in April, so he may have only a handful of Opens left in him. He referenced his tennis mortality on Thursday as part of the reason for him investing in NBL club South East Melbourne Phoenix.
If nothing else, Barty’s departure taught us that we need to appreciate what we have.
Kyrgios is nothing like Barty, but they both bring, or brought, so much, in different ways, to an Australian tennis landscape that needed both of them.
The 2023 Australian Open will go on, but it won’t be the same without him.
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