Nick Kyrgios has built a reputation as being Australia’s “bad boy” of tennis with his on-court tantrums and controversial comments about fellows sportsmen regularly attracting headlines.
But the young gun showed off his softer side this week as he sat down for a hilarious chat with a child reporter, with the pair discussing everything from fellow tennis aces Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic to his favourite dance moves.
However, tennis fan Vuk Vitic didn’t let the current world number 39 off easy, also quizzing him on his behaviour and sometimes poor work ethic which has garnered him a lot of hate in the past.
Getting right into the nitty gritty, the young journalist didn’t hesitate before jumping in with the hard questions, asking Kyrgios about his apparent lack of commitment to the game.
After exchanging niceties, he confidently asked: “I get off if I don’t work hard at school. Do you get told off when you don’t work hard at tennis?”
“I don’t have a coach so no one tells me anything,” the Aussie boldly replied which made Vuk giggle. “So but yeah, I should work hard.”
Prompting him further the young boy commented: “I mean some people told me, not me, but that you don’t try sometimes.”
“Yeah I don’t,” Kyrgios admitted. “Makes me a bad guy though.”
Offering a bit of advice Vuk then suggested: “You ought to try.” To which the tennis star replied: “Yeah you’re right.”
After discussing a somewhat difficult topic, the young reporter decided to lay off the hard questions for a bit, instead changing the topic to tennis skills and favourite video games.
However, it wasn’t long before he was at it again, as he asked the Aussie player about his thoughts on Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. While Kyrgios had only positive things to say about Murray, the same couldn’t be said for Djokovic whom he has clashed with in the past.
When asked about the current world number one, Kyrgios joked: “Who’s that?”
“He’s the Serbian tennis player,” the reporter explained. To which the tennis player replied: “Oh yeah I think I know him sorry.”
After a few more questions about Kyrgios and Murray’s friendship and the tennis star’s preferred dance move the pair finished off their short but sweet interview with the tennis star claiming it was “actually the best part of my day”.
The hilarious chat has been spread across the internet with many praising Kyrgios for the great interview with the young tennis fan.
“Such a cute interview,” one person wrote on Twitter. “Showed them both to be so charming. Keep doing what you’re doing.”
“Nick has a way of reeling me back in to liking him. What a great interview,” another wrote.
While a third said: “Nick is great for tennis. At a time when participation rates continue to struggle big characters like Nick should be celebrated not derided.”