Nick Kyrgios hits out at tennis legend in row over ‘out of control’ Australian Open crowds

Nick Kyrgios has labelled former world No. 4 Pat Cash an ‘old head’ and has rejected claims that Australian Open crowds need to be more controlled.

Former Wimbledon champion Cash believes that the crowds in Melbourne have gotten ‘out of control’ and even suggested that International players could be put off from competing as a result.

‘’I think the Australian crowds in the last 10 years have got a little out of control,’’ Cash told ABC TV.

‘’Cheer on your countrymen, no problems, but they’re not representing your country, they’re individual and I think we need to understand that.

‘’We should have more respect for the international players that come over here.

“We’ve got to also accept that if it goes too far, there’s a chance that these players will say, ‘I’m not going to come to Australia anymore. I go there and I get abused, what’s the point of that?’’

However, Kyrgios, who has recently been announced as a new edition to the Eurosport commentary team, thinks such views are out of touch and don’t consider the changing of the times.

‘’Absolutely stupid comment by another old head that has no idea how marketing or how things work in today’s day and age,” Kyrgios told Daily Mail Australia.

“You need entertainment. This generation doesn’t have a long attention span. That’s why you see clips on Instagram rolling. They’re 15-20 seconds long.

“Someone like Pat Cash wouldn’t be able to grasp that concept. And I’m not taking anything away from Pat Cash. Incredible player of his generation, but we need to continue to make the sport grow for fans everywhere.''

Having been apart of one of the most successful years for Australian tennis after he won the men’s doubles title with Thanasi Kokkinakis in 2022 – the very same year that Ash Barty became the first Australian woman to win the singles title on home soil for 44 years – Kyrgios believes it’s all about the ‘entertainment’ aspect.

‘’We need the crowds to feel part of the sport. We need entertainment,’’ Kyrgios added.

‘’We need people having beers and the players loving it. We need human interaction. We’re human, not robots. We need it to be like that.

“That year [2022] was incredible. Ash Barty was playing some of the best tennis in her career. She won the Grand Slam. Me and Thanasi won the Grand Slam. And it was the highest viewership.

“That’s not by coincidence. It was Ash putting on a hell of a show with her quality of tennis, and Thanasi and I were doing it a different way.

“With everything I do on and off the court, entertainment value, putting eyes on this. It just makes everyone else more money in the sport. That’s all it does.

‘’And if Pat Cash can’t see that – stubborn, old, stuck in his ways.’’