Top NZ player lets rip on Nick Kyrgios after Aus Open clash

New Zealand tennis player Michael Venus hasn’t held back in his criticism of Nick Kyrgios after playing the brash Australian at the first grand slam of the year.

Venus and German playing partner Tim Puetz lost in three sets to Kyrgios and compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis in the men’s doubles quarterfinals at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Tuesday night.

Kyrgios and Kokkinakis have been attracting raucous crowds for their matches, but Venus reckoned it had gone too far.

“It felt like a circus out there, and not really a tennis match,” Venus told 1News.

“Between serves, [they were] geeing the crowd up and getting them to cheer at times like that. I don’t think that’s really on.

“You know if it’s on the other foot, old mate [Kyrgios] would have flipped his lid.

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“He already did get mad there by himself. It’s amazing, he can smash a ball out that hits a kid and just ’cause he gives them a racquet afterwards people can say he’s such a good guy.”

Kyrgios had long been a polarising figure in the world of tennis.

Immensely talented but sometimes volatile on court, he had become a showman who never shied away from engaging with the crowd.

Venus said, in a match that lasted more than two hours, the atmosphere was a lot to deal with.

The 34-year-old also made a less-than-complimentary assessment of Kyrgios, calling him an “absolute knob.”

“On the maturity side, you see why he’s never fulfilled his potential and probably never will,” Venus told 1News.

“His maturity level, it’s probably being generous to about a 10-year-old, it’s at about that level.”