The BBC has leapt to the defence of Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios after the broadcaster was slammed by a British MP for appointing him as a commentator.
With Kyrgios continuing to remain on the sidelines of the court since suffering a flurry of injuries, he was hired by the British broadcaster to join its commentary team for the Wimbledon Championships which began on Monday, AEST.
The 29-year-old has remained out of Grand Slam action since a whirlwind 2022 where he won the doubles’ tournament at the Australian Open with Thanasi Kokkinakis, reached the final of Wimbledon before going down to Novak Djokovic, and made the quarter-final of the US Open.
Kyrgios’ new role at the BBC was lashed by Conservative British MP Caroline Nokes back in May, claiming his appointment showed “utter contempt towards women” after the Aussie had pled guilty to assaulting his ex-girlfriend Chiara Passari in Canberra in 2021 in a charge that was thrown out by a magistrate in 2023.
“The BBC should hang its head in shame at this appointment,” Ms Nokes said.
“It’s a disgrace and shows the utter contempt our national broadcaster has towards women.
“Not content with consistently underpaying their own female staff and forcing out women once they hit a certain age, they now bring a man who admitted assaulting a woman on board for Wimbledon.”
The BBC has now hit back, defending its decision to hire the tennis star for his expertise on the sport.
“As a current and high profile player, Nick Kyrgios, will provide insight and analysis of the action on the court from his experience in the game,” the public broadcaster said in a statement.
“We are in no way condoning his cited previous actions or behaviours, on and off the court, and he is employed to share his views on tennis only.
“He has provided similar services to other major sports broadcasters in recent months.
“The legal process he was involved in has concluded, is well documented, and he has spoken about it publicly.”
Since beginning his role on the commentary team earlier this week, Kyrgios has been met with both praise and criticism so far.
“Excellent game so far. So used to hearing Nick Kyrgios yelling on court that I barely recognise his dulcet tones as a commentator. Lovely voice and much prefer this Nick!” one viewer wrote on X.
“Some hate out there for Nick Kyrgios commentating for @bbctennis but he’s great – knowledgeable, softly spoken and funny,” another said.
One displeased viewer wrote: “…do we really need Nick kyrgios commentating at Wimbledon? I say, no, no we do not. Ugh. Turned off the coverage.”
Kyrgios’ fellow Australians have been making headlines early on at Wimbledon this year with Thanasi Kokkinakis, Alex de Minaur, Alex Popyrin and Adam Walton advancing to the second round.
Aleksandar Vukic also joined his compatriots, however, he bowed out to world No.3 Carlos Alcaraz in three sets on Wednesday (local time) 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-2.
Jordan Thompson also exited from the second round after being defeated by American Brandon Nakashima in straight sets.
Meanwhile, Kokkinakis stunned viewers when he came back from two sets down and four match points to defeat 17th seed Félix Auger-Aliassime in a five-set thriller.
The 28-year-old became the eighth man of this year’s draw to come back from two sets behind to win – a record in the first round at Wimbledon in the Open Era.