Nick Kyrgios reveals his snooty four-word reaction to being congratulated by Kate Middleton at Wimbledon - and royal fans will NOT be impressed
Nick Kyrgios has revealed what he thought when Kate Middleton praised him for his play after he lost the Wimbledon men's singles final in 2022 in a revelation that's sure to anger fans of the royal.
The Aussie firebrand lost his title tilt to Novak Djokovic in four sets and discussed his memories of the Grand Slam before a live audience in London on Tuesday.
Kyrgios revealed that he thinks about the defeat every day before recalling that the Princess of Wales told him, 'Great work, well played,' as they met on centre court during the trophy presentation - leading him to think, 'What would you know?'
The 30-year-old fell to Djokovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 in a match that was punctuated by controversy when he told the umpire to remove a fan he accused of having '700 drinks'.
Kyrgios had more to say about the Princess during last year's Wimbledon tournament.
He was working as a colour commentator for the BBC during the men's singles final between Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz when he shared his joy at seeing Kate in the Royal Box.
Kyrgios took the opportunity to offer the Princess of Wales his services as a coach, arguing that he'd make tennis a lot more interesting than Swiss legend Roger Federer, whom Kate has previously taken coaching advice from.
'Maybe I'm a little bit too volatile… but look, I've got a lot of time on my hands at the moment so I'm happy to coach [Kate Middleton],' Kyrgios said on BBC Sport.
'It'll be more fun being coached by me than it would by [Roger] Federer!'
There'll be no repeat of those sorts of remarks from the Aussie on the Beeb this year after he was axed by the broadcaster.
The move comes after the broadcaster copped backlash after employing him for last year's Championships 12 months after Kyrgios had admitted to assaulting his former girlfriend Chiara Passari.
Kyrgios - who was praised for his insight and charisma at last year's tournament - hit back.
'It's unfortunate but it's probably their loss more than mine,' he told The Guardian.
'I understand they've got Chris Eubanks [as a replacement], but he hasn't beaten the greatest of all time multiple times.
'When someone's beaten Federer, Nadal, Murray and Djokovic and has incredible insights, it's very strange you wouldn't want that person adding knowledge to tennis fans.'
Eubanks, 29, reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2023 and has also developed a strong reputation as a pundit in the US, working for the Tennis Channel, ESPN, and TNT Sports.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Rowe edges England to Under-21 Euros glory in extra-time thriller against Germany
Whatever Lee Carsley goes on to achieve in his managerial career, this will be very hard to beat. England Under-21s had been pegged back by Germany after racing into a 2-0 lead with goals for Harvey Elliott and Omari Hutchinson and those of a negative disposition could be forgiven for thinking back to the 1970 World Cup quarter-finals, when Sir Alf Ramsey's reigning champions were eliminated after extra time by West Germany in the same scenario. But with Thomas Tuchel watching on from the stands after dashing across the Atlantic to be here, Carsley – who was not even born back then – clearly had no such thoughts. Instead, he boldly gambled by taking off Elliott and the captain, James McAtee, and was rewarded by the substitute Jonathan Rowe scoring with almost his first touch. It means the Young Lions have followed in the footsteps of Dave Sexton's sides more than 40 years ago by winning successive European titles and their fourth in total. On this evidence, the future looks very bright indeed. Carsley could barely contain his emotions as he pumped his fist in delight at the final whistle while England's players celebrated wildly, with some of their family members in the stands bursting into tears. It has been a whirlwind six months for the former Everton midfielder, who was criticised for saying during his spell as interim England manager that he was hoping to return to the under-21s. England (4-2-3-1) Beadle; Livramento, Quansah, Cresswell, Hinshelwood; Anderson (Egan-Riley 99), Scott (Morton 44); Elliott (Rowe 90), McAtee (Nwaneri 90), Hutchinson (Iling-Junior 98); Stansfield (Norton-Cuffy 62).Subs not used Edwards, Fellows, Gray, Hackney, Sharman-Lowe, Simkin. Goals Elliott 5, Hutchinson 24, Rowe 92 Germany (4-3-3) Atubolu; Collins, Arrey-Mbi, Oermann (Wanner 105), Brown (Ullrich 86); Nebel, Martel (Tresoldi 98), Reitz; Weiper (Röhl 80), Woltemade, Gruda (Knauff 73) Subs not used Baum, Ernst, Jander, Noll, Rosenfelder, Siebert, Thielmann. Goals Weiper 45+1, Nebel 61 Yet with several players missing due to the Club World Cup and senior call-ups, Carsley has once again showed how effective he is coaching England's next crop of promising talent after arriving in Slovakia with an inexperienced squad that was not among the favourites to triumph. With Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson excelling in midfield, it is a testament to their team spirit that heads never dropped even after conceding the equaliser. Carsley had been calmness personified before kick-off as he cracked jokes with his assistant Ashley Cole and he had the luxury of being able to name an unchanged side from the semi-final victory against the Netherlands. Such was the interest in this game Tuchel had flown more than 5,000 miles from the Club World Cup in the US to be in attendance, while the Germany manager, Julian Nagelsmann, cut short his holiday in Mallorca. Both could not have failed to have been impressed with the way England started as Elliott, who was later presented with the player of the tournament award for his five goals but faces an uncertain future with Liverpool, gave them an early lead after Nnamdi Collins made a hash of a clearance. Charlie Cresswell – who is the other remaining member of the winning squad from 2023 – was inches away from doubling the lead when McAtee fired across the face of goal. Germany were caught out again on the break soon after and, having been set up by McAtee, Hutchinson finished with aplomb and he celebrated with an acrobatic flip. The usually understated Carsley could barely contain his delight on the touchline. With Germany's main threat Nick Woltemade having to drop increasingly deeper, the manager, Antonio Di Salvo, seemed to have no answer. But the loss of the limping Alex Scott, replaced by Liverpool's Tyler Morton just before half-time, was a blow and that was compounded when Nelson Weiper pulled one back by heading home Paul Nebel's cross in first-half injury time. McAtee was unlucky to see his effort drift just wide after a magnificent dummy left his marker for dead at the start of the second half. But Germany looked so much more threatening when they made it into the final third and the England goalkeeper James Beadle did well not to parry Nebel's cross into the path of the waiting Woltemade, who is set to join Bayern Munich from VfB Stuttgart after this tournament. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion There was to be no such reprieve when Nebel – who qualifies to play for the Republic of Ireland through his grandmother – saw his curling shot deflect off Jay Stansfield and loop over Beadle's despairing dive to equalise. Carsley immediately sacrificed Stansfield for Brooke Norton-Cuffy, with Elliott brought into a more central role. Suddenly the game was on a knife edge as Norton-Cuffy could only direct his shot straight at Noah Atubolu after being set up by Hutchinson. There were hearts in mouths on the England bench when a deflected Germany effort struck the crossbar in stoppages but they made it to extra time. Carsley rolled the dice by taking off the exhausted McAtee and Elliott, and it immediately paid dividends as Rowe's deft header from Morton's cross restored England's lead. 'We have to dig in,' said Carsley as he gathered his players together in a huddle at the change of ends. 'This is our time now.' Germany hit the bar again in injury time but Carsley and England would not be denied their place in the history books.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Tomos Williams injury leaves Farrell's Lions facing race to fill scrum-half slot
The British & Irish Lions are weighing up their scrum-half options after an injury to Tomos Williams that threatens to sideline the Welshman at the busiest stage of the squad's Australian tour. The head coach, Andy Farrell, said a decision on calling up a replacement would be made on Sunday, with Scotland's Ben White among the leading contenders to replace Williams at No 9. Williams contributed two tries in a fine all-round performance as the Lions eased to a 54-7 victory over Western Force but tweaked his left hamstring while diving over the line for his second score. It leaves the Lions with only two fit scrum-halves, one of whom – Jamison Gibson-Park – has been managing a strained glute muscle. Farrell said Gibson-Park would be fit to face the Queensland Reds on Wednesday but the Lions will need some cover if Williams is ruled out even for a short period, with Alex Mitchell as the only available option in the position. White has just arrived in New Zealand, where Scotland are due to kick off their summer tour against the Maori All Blacks next Saturday, and could easily hop on a plane to Brisbane if required. For the moment, Farrell is still waiting to learn the severity of the injury to Williams, the Premiership's player of the season with Gloucester. 'There was plenty of cramp last week, let's hope it is one of those,' said Farrell. 'He was playing well and I am sure there is a bit of concern there, but you can only deal with the here and now so fingers crossed.' Farrell, however, is adamant that there is no danger of Gibson-Park sitting out the Reds game. 'Jamison is fit and ready to go and has been training fully for the best part of a week. We are happy with that but we will only know [about Williams] in the morning. 'I don't what the timings are of that, with the flights, but you have to let these things settle down and give it a little bit of space. There is always something that is going to happen you are not quite sure about, that is the nature of the tour. We need to make the right call for the group.' Sir James Wates CBE has been appointed chair of the Rugby Football Union board. He takes over the role from Sir Bill Beaumont, who was named chair on an interim basis in December last year following the resignation of Tom Ilube. Wates is currently a board director of the Wates Group, a privately-owned construction, development and property service company in the UK and served as chairman between 2013 and 2023. PA Media Of their opening game in Australia, Farrell declared himself moderately satisfied with the result in the wake of the Lions' defeat by Argentina in Dublin last week. 'I am happy with the scoreline and how we got to that point because it wasn't always going our way. We fixed things up and played some good rugby and scored some nice tries.' Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion He was pleased, too, with the performances of Mack Hansen and the youthful Henry Pollock, despite the latter being sent to the sin-bin just before half-time. 'He got a yellow card because of repeated infringements, which was fair enough, but you saw his point of difference, that is for sure. He is learning all the time and there is plenty to work on to make sure we are the team we want to be. He is part of that.' Pollock also received a positive review from the Lions' captain for the day, Dan Sheehan. 'I thought he was brilliant today,' the Ireland hooker said. 'He does his own thing, he plays his own way which is probably different to a lot of the forwards. I enjoy that kind of rugby: off the cuff, see what's in front of you and make it happen. With his skillset and speed he can certainly make it happen. 'It is just about trying to make sure he is doing the right thing for the team all the time. All these big games are massive for him, massive for all of us. He will just get better and better from here.'
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Alex de Minaur reveals all on his wedding plans with Katie Boulter: Australian tennis star confirms whether nuptials will be held Down Under or in England - and his second love that his British fiancee puts up with
Alex de Minaur is a busy man. As well as preparing for his latest shot at an elusive Grand Slam title, he is engulfed in the chaos of organising a wedding. As the 26-year-old Australian tries to explain the challenges of arranging his upcoming nuptials to British No 2 Katie Boulter, the world No 11 comes as close to lost for words during the entirety of our conversation.
