Nick Kyrgios called out for disrespecting Roger Federer with Novak Djokovic's job

Nick Kyrgios has come under fire from some tennis fans for an Instagram post that supposedly disrespected Roger Federer during his retirement. The Australian posted a photo on his story saying goodbye to the tennis legend, but also joked that Novak Djokovic now sees an opportunity for more Grand Slam titles, referring to the smiling Serbian who was pictured behind the Swiss superstar.

Kyrgios regularly divides opinion in the tennis world, with some fans believing his maverick tendencies make the sport better while others are put off by his often aggressive on-court behavior and regular outbursts. He has a rocky relationship with many of his colleagues, something he experienced with Djokovic until this year when the pair mended their relationship and started something of a bromance.

However, the world number 20 has had a largely positive relationship with Federer, regularly praising his ability and contribution to tennis. Despite this, many tennis fans were angry at his latest post regarding the 20-time major champion's retirement, with some believing it was disrespectful to make a joke about the situation.

Posting a photo of Federer being cheered on by his tennis rivals, Kyrgios shed light on the fact that Djokovic looked like he was smiling while Rafael Nadal was in tears. He began the post by writing, "Goodbye King," before continuing. “Novak knows his slam chances are better now. Rafa is devastated."

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The post sparked a heated response within the tennis community. It was originally picked up by an account @yas_memes who tweeted an X-rated response to the photo. He said: "B**** WHAT???? THE AUDACITY??

This in turn got more responses with other supporters calling it out for perceived stupidity.

@tennisandlocs said: "Once a fool always a fool. Some of you needed a reminder. While @deminaurs said: 'I can't believe he has the audacity to say that !!! It was such an emotional evening and he thinks it's honestly appropriate to say that, what an idiot."

Others called him out for lack of shame and insisted no one would feel the same for him when the Aussie finally decided to hang up his racquet.

@EBethG_ wrote: "The fact that he wrote this without shame. And someone please tell this shit that Novak cried too. Before @everythingtaboo adds:" No one will cry when NK retires. Unless they are tears of joy.

Some even went so far as to suggest that this should be enough to see the 27-year-old kicked out of the ATP with @deziraygouw stating, "That clown needs to be banned from the tour. So annoying…”

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Much of the criticism, however, seems somewhat premature, especially after Kyrgios posted a heartfelt message honoring the Swiss stars immediately after announcing his retirement.

The Instagram post, which was paired with a series of happy photos of the couple playing together, was captioned: "no one will ever play the game like you. enjoy @rogerfederer……was an honor.”

Federer dominated the head-to-head matches between the two players, winning six of their seven encounters. The last came in the Laver Cup in 2019 with the 41-year-old claiming victory in the Champions tie-break.