Australian Open 2021: Ash Barty and Nick Kyrgios couldn’t be more different, Mike Colman writes

They are the Yin and Yang of Australian tennis.

On one side of the net, Ashleigh Barty, the darling of the establishment; everything that they believe an Australian sportsperson should be: self-effacing, polite, humble and a winner.

On the other side, Nick Kyrgios, who is everything that Barty is not: brash, opinionated, defiantly anti-authority and arguably the greatest waste of potential in the game.

While Barty refuses to even dip her little toe into a small puddle of controversy, delicately sidestepping media questions about Indigenous issues, Novak Djokovic or the whereabouts of Chinese player Peng Shuai, Kyrgios doesn’t wait to be asked. He jumps straight in the deep end.

And while Barty is totally dedicated to the cause, working tirelessly on her game and espousing the benefits of early to bed and early to rise, Kyrgios boasts of all-night drinking sessions, groupies and preferring games of basketball with his mates to hitting balls on the practice court.

Yet, somehow, just like Yin and Yang, they complement each other.

It might not be too enjoyable for their opponents, but the continuing presence of Barty and Kyrgios in the second week of the Australian Open has, for home fans anyway, been the highlight of the tournament.

Of course, not everyone is happy.

The traditionalists just cannot accept the behaviour of raucous fans at Kyrgios’s matches. The ya-hooing and catcalls during his winning run with doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis have been more redolent of a football final than a game of tennis.

And it hasn’t just been on the backcourts. The barbarians have taken over the main Rod Laver Arena as well.

After being assaulted by a cacophony of boos throughout his second-round win over Kyrgios, Russian Daniil Medvedev called on the ‘low IQ’ fans to show some respect.

Members of the entourage of Croatia’s world number one doubles pairing Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic allegedly went much further after their loss to Kyrgios and Kokkinakis in front of a boisterous crowd. According to Kyrgios, they threatened the Australians with violence.

You won’t ever get that reaction from anyone who is beaten by Ash Barty. Everyone loves her, even the players she is leaving in her wake.

When criticised by former Australian player Sam Groth for not knowing Barty was the top seed before the 2019 Wimbledon tournament, former world number one Serena Williams was quick out of the blocks.

‘I don’t even know what he’s talking about,’ the 23 Grand Slam title-winner said.

‘I’m happy she’s number one. I don’t know anyone that isn’t. She’s such a sweet person.

‘I think she’s just the one person in the locker room that everyone roots for, including me.’

Which can’t be said about Kyrgios who seems to have got offside with at least half the players on tour.

One respected Sydney sports columnist made the point that while Barty, thanks to her personality, talent and Grand Slam titles, has written herself into Australian tennis history books, Kyrgios would end up a footnote, at best.

Which is the point entirely.

Nick Kyrgios and his many fans couldn’t care less about history. All they care about is what is happening right now, this match, this game, this point.

In some ways, Barty is as much a product of the past as she is the present. Kyrgios’s fans would tell you he is the future.

Barty’s respect for the traditions of the game is never far from the surface.

When she won Wimbledon last year, she did it in a dress she had specially commissioned to honour her idol and fellow Indigenous champion Evonne Goolagong Cawley, who had won the title 50 years earlier.

After her match against Amanda Anisimova on Sunday, she paid tribute to 83-year-old Australian great Rod Laver who was sitting in the grandstand at the arena named after him.

‘Obviously Rod is an exceptional human being,’ she said. ‘He’s an amazing champion of our sport. He’s iconic. It’s just amazing to be in his presence.’

It would be interesting to find out if Nick Kyrgios even knows who Rod Laver is.

Certainly, it is doubtful he will shed tears when the two-time Grand Slam winner passes away, as he did on the death of NBA legend LeBron James.

But that is why, in his own way, he is just as popular as Barty.

As he said after his most recent doubles victory, tennis has become bogged down in recent years due to the dominant focus on the ‘Big Three’ of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

The game needs fresh blood. Someone that a new generation of fans can relate to. Someone like him.

‘Tennis has done a really poor job with accepting personalities,’ he said. ‘They’ve really only marketed three players for the last decade, and now it’s caught up to them. But people go about it differently, and I think tennis needs to embrace that more.’

Tennis Australian officials certainly aren’t complaining. The unlikely Barty-Kyrgios combination has pushed the horrors of the Novak Djokovic debacle into the background.

Different in just about every way other than possessing a prodigious talent for hitting tennis balls, they have both reached the same destination in terms of attracting massive fan bases, just via different routes.

Barty, through her inspirational story of overcoming the mental strains of being away from family, home and pet dogs, then surrounding herself with good people, and working hard.

Kyrgios, through defiantly remaining his own person despite the admonishments of those who demanded he change.

There is one thing on which they agree though. Both have made the point several times during this tournament that they are having fun.

Just like their fans.