Nick Kyrgios no longer part of BBC’s Wimbledon coverage
Nick Kyrgios will not be returning as a BBC pundit at Wimbledon this year, Telegraph Sport can reveal.
The corporation caused outrage 12 months ago by hiring the “bad boy” of tennis just over a year after he admitted assaulting an ex-girlfriend.
But Kyrgios, who has continued to court controversy since his spell working for the BBC, will not be part of the team announced for the tournament, which starts later this month.
Telegraph Sport has also been told Kyrgios will not appear on ESPN’s US coverage of the grand slam tournament after working for the broadcaster at the Australian Open for the last two years.
The 30-year-old had been hoping to play at Wimbledon for the first time since losing the 2022 final to Novak Djokovic but confirmed last week that the injury curse that had plagued him for the past two years had struck again.
Kyrgios did not respond to requests for comment on not being part of the BBC’s coverage but a source close to him cited the fact that, unlike last year, he had planned to enter the tournament. However, he worked for ESPN after losing in the first round of the Australian Open in January.
The BBC’s hiring of Kyrgios last year was condemned by senior MPs and women’s campaigners. Caroline Nokes, the women and equalities committee chair, said the corporation should “hang its head in shame” for agreeing terms after he admitted assaulting an ex-girlfriend.
Women’s Aid and Reclaim These Streets also expressed dismay over the punditry job because Kyrgios shared social media posts from misogynist Andrew Tate.
In February 2023, Kyrgios admitted assaulting an ex-girlfriend but a magistrate in Canberra, Australia, called the incident “a single act of stupidity or frustration” when sparing him a criminal record.
The BBC defended its position at the time, saying in a statement: “We are in no way condoning his cited previous actions or behaviours, on and off the court, and he is employed to share his views on tennis only. He has provided similar services to other major sports broadcasters in recent months. The legal process he was involved in has concluded, is well documented, and he has spoken about it publicly.”
Kyrgios later insisted the incident had been “dealt with” and said he would enhance the BBC’s coverage.
Kyrgios was also vocally critical of Jannik Sinner over the world No 1’s failed drugs test last year.
Kyrgios was accused in January of targeting Sinner – who recently returned from a short ban after being found not to have knowingly taken a banned substance – because the Italian had been dating his ex-girlfriend, Anna Kalinskaya.
American sports journalist Jon Wertheim told Andy Roddick’s Served podcast (listen in full below): “There’s a woman involved here, who also happens to be a player.
“Bear in mind that Jannik Sinner – who he has been relentlessly bullying for months and months and hasn’t responded – is also coached by a colleague at ESPN.
“There is so much going on here, but it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with bona fide concerns about doping.
“He [Kyrgios] didn’t even seem to understand the doping protocols and the context to begin with which leads me to conclude this is all just … against a player who’s now dating a former girlfriend, and nothing more.”
Kyrgios responded by saying he had no issue with Sinner personally, writing on X: “I couldn’t care less where sinner lays his wood. I’m in a happy relationship I just don’t like people who are cheating the system.”
In October, Kyrgios revealed he believed it was “impossible” that the pyramids were built by humans as well as echoing other conspiracy theories in a podcast interview with Louis Theroux (listen below).
When confronted with a possible method by which they might have been built involving logs and blocks, he said: “That’s insanity. The fact that, how is that possible they got every measurement correct and they’re all aligned. And they did it with rolling large stones on logs is an insane statement.”
On his sharing of Tate’s social media posts, Kyrgios said in a statement to BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour last year: “I was not aware of the full picture when I reposted Andrew Tate.
“Since I have learned of the full story I have deleted posts, unfollowed him and gone to all lengths to distance myself.”
