Sydney, (Asian independent) Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios and German great Boris Becker engaged in a war of words on Twitter after the former criticised German world no.7 Alexander Zverev for not following social distancing norms. Becker called Kyrgios “rats” for “telling off” a fellow sportsperson.
“Don’t like no #rats ! Anybody telling off fellow sportsman/woman is no friend of mine! Look yourself in the mirror and think your better than us…” said Becker. Kyrgios replied: “For goodness sake Boris, I’m not competing or trying to throw anyone under the bus. It’s a global pandemic and if someone is as idiotic as Alex to do what he has done, I’ll call him out for it. Simple.”
“We all live in the pandemic called #Covid_19! It’s terrible and it killed to many lives…we should protect our families/loved ones and follow the guidelines but still don’t like #rats,” Becker then tweeted to which Kyrgios replied: “Rats? For holding someone accountable? Strange way to think of it champion, I’m just looking out for people. When my family and families all over the world have respectfully done the right thing. And you have a goose waving his arms around, imma say something.”
Kyrgios then said that Becker is a “bigger doughnut” than he thought. “can hit a volley, obviously not the sharpest tool in the shed though,” he said. Becker went on to say that he would like to see Kyrgios fulfill his potential and win a Grand Slam. “He would be an incredible role model for the youth of the world addressing the issues of equality/race/heritage! Man up buddy and deliver!”
Kyrgios replied: “Why are you now talking about tennis? It has nothing to do with tennis? How about the dude who you are defending mans up and gives us some sort of explanation? Not another average management apology.”
Kyrgios has been outspoken in his criticism of tennis players and administrators for not accounting for the threat of the coronavirus pandemic while participating and organising tennis tournaments. He had most recently slammed Zverev after a video clip emerged of the latter in a party mere days after saying that he will be going into self-isolation after participating in Novak Djokovic’s controversial Adria Tour.