Tennis courts thrive on action, but the drama off the court? That’s a whole different game. From fiery exchanges to subtle digs, fans have witnessed a fair share of controversies. The latest? A brewing storm between Andy Roddick and Nick Kyrgios over the doping cases of Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner—and this one seems far from cooling down.
While the doping cases have created a huge furor in the tennis community, many rallied their support behind the players, including Roddick. The former US Open champion went all out in support of the players citing that they should not be banned or even criticized for unintentional consumption. However, this did not seem to go well with Nick Kyrgios. When a user highlighted Roddick’s support for the players, Kyrgios took sharp digs at him.
“It’s just sad at this point. The guy is like a messenger to try and sweep everything under the rug. Haha, he definitely took the side of corruption but I mean I’ve had a couple good days in a row,” Kyrgios commented. He did not stop there. When another user, in a now-deleted post on X, questioned whether Roddick too used some drug during his playing days that made him sympathize with Swiatek and Sinner, Kyrgios responded, “Hahaha most likely.” Now, the controversy between the duo seems to be amping up a notch higher. Roddick engaged in an interaction on the December 10th episode of the Served with Roddick podcast and seemingly took veiled jibes at Kyrgios, without specifically taking his name.
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Speaking in the podcast, Roddick said, “Tennis is full of great citizens and you know, unfortunately, we give a lot of ink to the carnival barkers of our game. The ones who have opinions that mostly just benefit themselves when they say them. It’s like we are going to be pi**ed about our own failures by dragging on other people.” Kyrgios has been quite critical of both Iga Swiatek and Sinner’s case. For Sinner, he demanded a ban of at least 2 years. Similarly, when Swiatek’s case came into the picture, he commented, “Our Sport is cooked.” This statement was previously slammed by Roddick who said, “Our sport’s pretty f*****g great. Pretty great. A lot of people expect understanding and forgiveness for the times in their life that they’ve really screwed up, but then give none of that to anyone else.” And yet again, he seems to be taking indirect potshots at him.
It’s just sad at this point. The guy is like a messenger to try and sweep everything under the rug. Haha he definitely took the side of corruption 😂 but I mean I’ve had a couple good days in a row 🤷🏽♂️
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) December 3, 2024
Continuing further in the interview, Roddick talked about charismatic personalities on the courts. “One last thing about Carlos like we are talking about personalities in tennis and charisma, he does it effortlessly. It just seeps out of him. It’s not like a Mr. T Starter set and a haircut. That’s not personality, that’s not charisma. You know, dancing for likes isn’t charisma,” he said. Interestingly, the characteristics he highlighted can be related to Kyrgios, who was known for his showy haircut, sculpted eyebrows, gold chains, and dancing before and sometimes after the matches. Roddick continued his scathing attack and to conclude the podcast, he referred to some lyrics by Kendrick Lamar.
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“I can’t get this one Kendrick Lamar lyric out of my head. This whole week it’s just been spinning in my head. He does this one song and he says ‘Don’t tell no lies about me, and I won’t tell no truths about you’.” Now this can be seen as a direct dig at Kyrgios who has been on a social media feud with Roddick for quite some time now. And while Roddick did not mention any name, he seems to have addressed all the backlashes that came his way from the likes of Kyrgios. But it is not just Kyrgios who seems to be on Roddick’s target as he previously lashed out at other remarks too that bashed the Pole and the Italian stars.
When Andy Roddick slammed the former Russian player’s remark against Swiatek and Sinner
Ever since Swiatek’s doping saga came to light, several people have slammed the Polish star accusing her of deliberately consuming the substance. Even Sinner was pulled into the conversation by many as both players’ cases were compared to each other. Joining the fray was none other than former Russian player Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
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Kafelnikov took to his X and demanded a life ban on any player found guilty of doping. “It should be LIFE ban for anybody who gets caught using ban substances! NO excuses and ZERO tolerance no matter who your are!!!!” he wrote. However, Andy Roddick was quick to respond to this in one of his earlier episodes of the same podcast. “Some of you are gonna be like, you test positive your lifetime ban. Yevgeny Kafelnikov said, ‘lifetime ban. Lifetime ban for melatonin’. Sounds right. Yeah. Someone else going, ‘our sport is cooked. I have a lot more respect for our sport than to close the door on someone taking a melatonin and throwing my iron,” he said – taking sharp digs.
For now, it would be interesting to see how the latest remarks by Andy Roddick unfold and if Kyrgios will come out to take this war of words to the next level. What do you think?
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Is Andy Roddick right to defend Swiatek and Sinner, or is Kyrgios exposing a deeper issue?
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Is Andy Roddick right to defend Swiatek and Sinner, or is Kyrgios exposing a deeper issue?
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