Tennis News: Iga Swiatek’s a ‘bad woman’ and Nick Kyrgios’ big announcement

Nick Kyrgios is an enigma. He has lost his temper on the court several times and sometimes seems to have a clear intent to agitate others, but he also has a charm that comes through the TV screen when one watches him on the Tennis Channel or some other outlet. If Kyrgios were to quit playing and focus on commentating on the sport, tennis fans would lose the ability to watch a highly entertaining player on the court, but we would gain a full-time entertaining commentator.

But maybe we can hold off on expecting a retirement announcement from Kyrgios any time soon. He seemingly is returning to tennis, at least in a way. While he might not be scheduled for any ATP-sanctioned events, he is listed as a competitor at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown which will take place in New York City. The glorified exhibition which was created by Patrick Mouratoglou is scheduled for August 22 through 24.

Of course, that is a very long time away so Kyrgios could decide to skip the event. But the kind of matches and scoring, where player and crowd interaction is much higher than at ATP tournaments, seem made for Kyrgios’ style. He knows how to be an excellent showman.

Andrey Rublev is also scheduled to participate. This is noteworthy because, after an on-court meltdown during the ATP Finals in November, Kyrgios offered to coach the Russian. Rublev has had far too many outbursts on the court and that affects his game. Maybe Kyrgios could actually help Rublev stay calmer and improve.

One player who might still be improving, though she is already atop the WTA, is Iga Swiatek. She is a four-time Grand Slam winner, has won eight Masters 1000s, and once she gets to a final, she is nearly unbeatable. Her record in major and Masters 1000 finals alone is 12-2. Recently during a segment on the Tennis Channel, former ATP No. 1 Andy Roddick had an interesting turn of phrase to describe Swiatek.

Roddick said, “She is approaching the rare era of like (Justine) Henin, (Maria) Sharapova or Lindsay Davenport, and Kim Clisjters, she’s like right there and she is also 22 years old. She’s a bad woman man, she can play.” Bad woman indeed.

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