BEN MCCLELLAN: Nick Kyrgios’ Australian Open exit shows why it’s time to let him sail off into the sunset

“So f..king dumb” – this is what Nick Kyrgios served up to his legions of young fans as the best way to deal with adversity on court.

No one expected the self-maligned tennis star to go too deep into this Australian Open, but most hoped he would at least get through the first round and, if not, possibly play with the talent and dare I say it grace he mustered at the peak of his powers in 2022.

But it was not to be as Kyrgios predictably self-imploded and fittingly lost the final point in his straight sets defeat to Britain Jacob Fearney with an error.

Post-match Krygrios blamed his battle with injury and then threatened that the singles match was likely his last at Melbourne Park.

Thousands of young tennis fans who idolise the brash Canberran and Australian tennis officials - who have been cashing in on the Kyrgios’ trainwreck for a decade - will be hoping he does not follow through on the threat. I, like some, hope that he does.

Fading into the background and allowing the next generation of tennis stars more limelight might be the most gracious act Kyrgios could make.

It would allow the Australian sporting public to commit unwaveringly to Alex De Minaur, Alexei Popyrin and Thanasi Kokkinakis who, while the latter two have shown the same arrogance that defines Kyrgios, all of them have dug deep when it counted to pull off great results recently in situations when Kyrgios would have thrown in the towel.

At 29 Kyrgrios has likely played his best singles tennis and can be proud of his career with seven ATP titles after blasting onto the scene as a teenager in 2014 by defeating then World No.1 Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, Roger Federer a year later and Novak Djokovic in 2017.

These were impressive feats given it was the first time he had played against the big three who dominated men’s tennis for two decades and have each won more than 20 grand slam titles each.

But with so much promise Kyrgios has never really delivered with his 2022 Wimbledon finals loss to Djokovic the crowning moment of his injury-plagued career.

What the big three and the current World No.1 Jannik Sinner possess that Kyrgios never has is the ability to let their tennis primarily do the talking.

We all like a strong personality in our sports stars but for too long Kyrgios has traded on his off-court drama to excuse his failures on court.

In the Trump-era of defining one’s own truth, Kyrgios has been adept at keeping himself in the headlines while also strongly snapping back at reporters when he reads headlines he does not like.

Though he still has a chance at this Open to redeem himself in what is sure to be his new profession, doubles tennis.

He and Kokkinakis, who won the Australian Open title in 2022, will start their campaign on Wednesday infront of a packed crowd.

And Lleyton Hewitt has shown he still has faith in Kyrgios by selecting him in the Davis Cup squad to play Sweden later this month for the doubles ties.

Let’s hope Kyrgios, who turned his back on the national team after being a key member several years ago, returns the favour by putting his country first and answering the call to be a team player.

Over the last decade Aussie tennis fans have waited patiently for Kyrgios to live up to his potential to establish himself as Australia’s top tennis player and one of the world’s premier players – and at times he has.

At his best Kyrgios is great to watch but at his worst – which we saw last night – it’s embarrassing.

Deriding his opponent, who unlike Kyrgios was not parachuted into Australia’s only grand slam, as a “f..king challenger player”, might have been a way to get himself back into the match mentally but it just came across as disrespectful and rude.

Kyrgios did show some humilty post-match with the preface that he “wasn’t 100 per cent”.

“I’m not saying that’s why I lost. He outplayed me. He outserved me, he returned well, he did a lot of things amazing ... he’s an in-form player,” he said.

If Krygios had played bravely and stayed relatively silent his final singles match at the Australian Open would be warmly remembered.

Instead it will barely rate a mention by the next slam with our focus quickly turning to the newest young star, Emerson Jones, who has been predicted to follow in the footsteps of the best Australian women’s player in the last 50 years - Ash Barty.

Let’s hope Jones takes her cue from her idol in how she handles herself and not Kyrgios’ whining and self-pity.

Kyrgios often bemoans he is done with tennis, and while not all the tennis public is done with him (anyone under 30) the older tennis fans have likely had enough of the antics and lack of results.

It’s time to hitch ourselves to a new star.