Google News Patrick Mouratoglou: If Nick Kyrgios was playing chess, the stadium would be full
by DZEVAD MESIC | VIEW 3923
Renowned tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou thinks Nick Kyrgios is definitely one of the most entertaining players to watch. Every Kyrgios' match at the Australian Open has featured a sold out crowd and the same will certainly be the case when he and Thanasi Kokkinakis take on the court for their doubles final.
"It's not about playing singles, doubles, mixed doubles, I feel like if Kyrgios was playing chess, the stadium would be full. Some players are able to bring so much people to watch them because they are exciting," Mouratoglou said on an episode of Tennis Majors' Eye of the Coach, as quoted on Sportskeeda.
"We need action, we need passion, we need craziness. Sport is about the athlete sharing his/her emotion with the crowd. Nick is a master in that."
Mouratoglou appears to agree with Kyrgios
Earlier this week, Kyrgios said it's time for tennis to embrace new personalities.
"We can't create another Nick Kyrgios but there are other players who are very exciting to watch. It's important to give them every opportunity to just express their personalities. If the code of conduct is extremely hard, you kill the diversity of the behaviors and personalities because on a tennis court, all the players behave almost the same," Mouratoglou said.
Kyrgios and Benoit Paire are no strangers to on-court outbursts and rants. Those outbursts and rants have cost them a good amount of money. "There are still some like Benoit Paire and Nick Kyrgios who don't care about getting thousands and thousands of dollars of fines while most of the others try not to get fined," Mouratoglou said.
"These players are exciting to watch because something crazy can happen. Those guys are filling up the stadiums, that's what it is. They are creating a lot of excitement for our sport and they are bringing new fans, so we need them."