Nick Kyrgios wanted Andy Murray on his podcast. It didn’t happen. We Love Tennis identifies Murray as the former friend Kyrgios talks about on social media, and the line that stopped me is the last one: “Like, mate, find a bit of time”.
Finding time. I know the feeling. My down-the-line forehand, I work on it on Tuesday evenings, when court 4 is free, meaning never. The bubble, the club’s indoor dome, is rented by the hour, and it shows in the game. So when a top player tells another to find a slot, I’m not taking sides. I sympathise with the diary.
Kyrgios says they were “closer before” and that he can’t tell whether Murray is still a friend or “just a colleague”. In club league (interclubs, Belgium’s weekend team league), I have the same status with my former doubles partner. We were very close until she moved up to C30.2 (a club-level ranking). Since then she doesn’t answer about Sundays at ten. It’s a question of game patterns, not people.
And Kyrgios has his own schedule: back in competition at the Kooyong Classic, the exhibition on the former Australian Grand Slam site, then the Australian Open. An exhibition to get your legs back before the big event is exactly my preparation. Except my exhibition is the All Saints’ mixed doubles, and my big event is the AFT (the French-speaking Belgian federation) ranking in January.
In Couvin, when we had no time, we sent a card. The podcast sends nothing.
What I take away is the intention. Inviting someone is a risk, like going to the net on a second serve. It doesn’t always come off. That shot, I make it. Not every time, but I make it. And if I don’t make it, it was bucketing down.
Kooyong is outdoors, at least. No bubble to rent by the hour.
It’s true, we checked: We Love Tennis.
