John McEnroe demands characters like ‘Bad Boy’ Nick Kyrgios and not emotion less Elena Rybakina

John McEnroe thinks that tennis players should show more emotions on court. He wants Elena Rybakina to learn from Nick Kyrgios, this aspect of the sport.

John McEnroe demands characters like ‘Bad Boy’ Nick Kyrgios and not emotion less Elena Rybakina

John McEnroe wants Elena Rybakina must learn the art of showing emotions from Nick Kyrgios

John McEnroe has always been known for his outrageous comments and brash attitude during his playing days. He would often land up in controversy either with the umpires, players or authorities. He has also been fined many times and was known as someone who worn emotions on his sleeves.

Although, it has been a long time, for his retirement, his opinions still do matter. In a recent interview, he talked about how active tennis players don’t reveal their emotions on the court in front of the camera. He thinks that players should show their emotions more often than not.

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He takes the example of Nick Kyrgios in particular whose antics on the court is legendary. In a social media interaction, he was asked “Why do tennis players have such an explosive temper?”  To this John McEnroe gave a quirky answer.

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“You must be watching different tournaments than me because I don’t see many players having meltdowns at all,” he argued. “And I know something about meltdowns, my past experience, and I’ve seen a couple of players, obviously Nick Kyrgios comes to mind having meltdowns on a pretty regular basis, but for the most part, tennis players are incredibly well behaved, maybe too well behaved in my book,” he said.

In his opinion, Wimbledon 2022 champion Elena Rybakina do not show enough emotions. She also advised her to follow Nick Kyrgios’s example and wear emotions on her sleeve.

“I’d like to see a little bit more explosive temper see the emotions, wear it on their sleeve, there’s a handful of people you see that, but I just saw someone win Wimbledon on the girl’s side (Rybakina) who didn’t show any emotion, so I don’t know if any of us wanna see that,” he continued.

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John McEnroe’s advice for Sebastian Korda

Sebastian Korda and John McEnroe

Sebastian Korda is one of the most exciting talents to have emerged on the scene in recent years. Although, he has only one ATP singles title to his name, i.e., the Parma Open in 2021, many have great expectations from him. One amongst them is American tennis legend John McEnroe.

The reason for Mr. McEnroe’s renewed confidence in the 22-year old is his performances this season. He reached the final of the 2023 Adelaide International 1 tournament. However, he lost to Novak Djokovic. He gave a tough fight to Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinal round match of the Australian Open 2023 before retiring because of a wrist injury.

“I think Korda. I mean, to me, Sebastian Korda is a guy like ‘wow’. If he could put it together, we’ll see how the wrist is, haven’t heard any updates on the wrist injury that he suffered against Khachanov,” the seven-time Grand Slam champion said. 

He also has got some wise words for the young American. He thinks that if he can improve upon his game, he can make a great run at the Wimbledon.

“If he can add a little more meat to the bones, get a little more pop on the serve, he looks to me like a guy that’s a legit threat at Wimbledon,” he continued.

Sebastian Korda is currently ranked as World No.26 in the ATP rankings.

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