Chapter 35: Standing out from the crowd
Kyrgios... is still typical Kyrgios. He knows that the charity exhibition match is a party occasion to entertain the public and have fun, but he still comes on stage as nonchalant as a bad boy, staggering.
He was also dissatisfied because the audience was shouting "Milos" name, so he openly put his hands behind his back and raised his middle finger.
Obviously, Kyrgios doesn't mind others seeing it. The reason he put it behind him is to give face to the organizer.
Then, a tall figure could be seen in the dense and surging crowd, with a meaningful look in his eyes, as if he had seen through the meaning of his middle finger, but Kyrgios was not only not panicked, but also looked over boldly and directly, and saw Gawain who stood out from the crowd at a glance.
Their sights collided.
Gawain was a little puzzled. He sensed the spark in Kyrgios' eyes and secretly sounded the alarm. He could feel the sharpness and momentum on the surface of his skin. Kyrgios had no intention of hiding his true thoughts and even raised his chin towards Gawain. The provocation was clear.
Gao Wen was also full of questions.
All the audience were looking at Kyrgios and Raonic, so why did Kyrgios target him?
There is really nothing you can do if your height is too conspicuous.
But Gawain also understood that this was Kyrgios, unreasonable but self-righteous, as if the whole world had wronged him and he was the only one who suffered injustice, but he just couldn't stand any injustice at all, so he always turned his grievances into anger and vented it towards others.
On and off the court, Kyrgios is a time bomb, rushing around, hitting others and himself, not caring at all about getting hurt.
In 2015, in the second round of the Rogers Cup, Kyrgios faced Swiss star Stan Wawrinka.
Wawrinka won the first set in a tiebreak. Kyrgios was so angry that he had no way to vent it, so when he returned to the sidelines for a break between sets, he deliberately shouted at Wawrinka.
"Dude, I'm very sorry to tell you that Kokkinakis slept with your girlfriend."
The most ridiculous thing about using the "cuckold" method to mock and ridicule Wawrinka is that Thanasi-Kokkinakis is a good friend of Kyrgios himself.
As a result, this sentence was recorded very clearly by the on-site microphone, and all the audience watching the live broadcast of the game heard it, which was equivalent to telling the whole world.
Regardless of whether the matter is true or false, Kyrgios's inability to accept defeat has unexpectedly made Kokkinakis the protagonist of gossip.
In the end, Wawrinka defeated Kyrgios.
In 2016, Kyrgios was warned by referees for treating ball kids in a rough manner at both the Miami Masters and the French Open.
As a result, both times he refused to admit his mistakes and told the referee that "this is prejudice". If "Nadal or Djokovic did this, you would pretend not to see it", and then angrily condemned the referee for "ruining the sport".
Still in 2016, in the Shanghai Masters, Kyrgios played passively and lost the game in just 48 minutes. He had obvious passive behavior when serving and receiving, deliberately gave up hitting the ball, causing boos from the audience.
Then, Kyrgios yelled at the crowd, "Why don't you come out and play? Otherwise, sit down and shut up and watch your ball."
In 2019, in the second round of the Rome Masters, Kyrgios faced Casper-Ruud.
In the deciding set, Kyrgios broke the serve first and took the lead but was broken back and lost the advantage. His emotions were out of control. He first slammed his racket to the ground and kicked over a water bottle; then he threw a chair away and threw away the towel handed to him by the caddy. The audience booed continuously, and then Kyrgios scolded everyone, the earth, the referee, and the audience, like a volcanic eruption.
After the referee's repeated warnings were ineffective, he directly penalized Kyrgios for one game. Then Kyrgios refused to play, packed up his tennis bag and left the court. The referee directly ruled that Kyrgios lost the game.
The above-mentioned bad deeds are just the tip of the iceberg of Kyrgios' career. The professional league organization has also imposed multiple punishments, from warnings to fines to long-term suspensions, and has required Kyrgios to undergo anger management psychological treatment at least three times, but to no avail.
Kyrgios still goes his own way, still blames everyone and everyone, and squanders his talent recklessly.
In tennis, everyone says, "If Kyrgios had the right attitude, he could have an incredible career," but everything stops at "if."
To be honest, Kyrgios is not afraid of anyone and will not be afraid of anyone, because he has never taken anyone seriously, even when facing his idol Federer, he still speaks without restraint.
Among the "Big Four", the one who really has a good relationship with Kyrgios is the well-rounded and versatile Murray, but when facing Murray, Kyrgios still pokes at his scars.
"His record against Djokovic is really embarrassing."
Gao Wen had no idea how he had provoked Kyrgios, but that was the problem. No one knew why Kyrgios suddenly disliked him.
Perhaps, there was no need for a reason at all? The small incident did not affect the enthusiasm of the audience. Even MacDonald did not notice Kyrgios's eyes. Then, the two superstars Venus and Sharapova came on stage one after another. The cheers and shouts at the scene reached a peak instantly, as if you could feel the whole ground shaking faintly.
The host came on stage, and after a brief introduction and linking, we went straight to the first part of the day -
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Fans sparring.
First, there will be sparring with fans, which is equivalent to a warm-up; then there will be a formal charity exhibition match, starting with Raonic vs. Kyrgios, and then the highlight of the day, Sharapova vs. Venus. In this way, the atmosphere on the scene will be pushed to a climax step by step.
The four professional players each selected a fan to come on the court and have a one-on-one "duel", but considering the time and intensity, each duel is only five points, and the first side to win five points wins.
"Who wants to go on stage and face Maria?"
At the host's call, almost all the audience raised their arms high, like a birch forest. Then Sharapova selected a blonde girl who looked like an elementary school student.
The child was so excited that she was speechless. She staggered all the way onto the stage and almost fell, causing a burst of exclamations. When the girl signaled that she was fine, the audience burst into warm applause again. The friendly atmosphere of the charity exhibition match could be clearly felt.
But Kyrgios was still "beautiful alone", with his chin raised high, as if the whole world owed him money, and then he directly called on Gawain, who didn't even raise his hand.
"...You, yes, that's you, the tall and thin one. I think you look interesting."
Brush, brush, brush.
All eyes were focused on Gawain, whose superior height could not be concealed at all.
(End of this chapter)