© Getty Images Sport – Patrick Smith
Nick Kyrgios described Australia as “pretty racist” and claimed that he was several times in a situation where people would “scream out racist comments” at him. On the latest episode of the Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson, Kyrgios spoke with the boxing icon and the podcast’s co-host and NFL player Sebastian Joseph-Day.
“What are some of the struggles of playing tennis and it being predominantly white and you being of color?” Joseph-Day asked Kyrgios. Responding to the question, Kyrgios said: “Yes, I’ve dealt with a fair bit of that in my career, for sure, like people screaming out racist comments.
I’ve copped that a couple of times, but I mean, I don’t care. A lot of my friends back home are colored, and I almost always fit into that culture a bit better, to be honest. I feel more accepted, and yeah, look, I’ve dealt with a fair bit of it.
Australia’s pretty bad with that type of stuff anyway, but I don’t really care.”
An Australian sporting legend once told Kyrgios to ‘go back where you came from’
In 2015, Australian swimming legend Dawn Fraser had some strong words for Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic, that many deemed as racist. “They should be setting a better example for the younger generation of this country, a great country of ours.
If they don’t like it, go back to where their fathers or their parents came from. We don’t need them here in this country if they act like that”. Speaking to Men’s Health magazine this year, Kyrgios seemingly addressed that situation.
“Some of the most iconic people in sport in Australia have told me and my family to go back where we came from and this kind of BS. Stuff that isn’t acceptable, not acceptable at all.” Kyrgios entered this year as Australia’s top-ranked male player but then lost his status after injuries limited him to just one tournament in 2023.
